


From Childhood's Hour

by whatUseeintheshadows



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, De-Aged Dean Winchester, Gen, Hurt Dean, Hurt/Comfort, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-03-18
Packaged: 2018-01-13 06:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1216759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatUseeintheshadows/pseuds/whatUseeintheshadows
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A disastrous hunt leaves Dean physically and emotionally four years old, yet retaining all of his adult memories. Now the brothers must find a way to reverse Dean's condition while trying to avoid those who'd take advantage of the hunter's unfortunate situation. Takes place in season five.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Supposedly Easy Hunt

Chapter One: A Supposedly Easy Hunt

It was supposed to have been an easy hunt. ‘Piece of cake’ Dean had said. The creature they were after, an edderkopp-skapning, supposedly looked terrifying but wasn’t much of a threat. Up until recently, it had been considered nothing more than a Norwegian myth, but seven years ago a hunter had found and killed one in North Dakota and there had been a few unconfirmed sightings of others since. The giant spider-like creature keeps itself well hidden in caves and only comes out to feed. It is fearful of humans though, and will only attack and eat small children. Its only defense is its ability to shoot out sticky webs to trap people in while it flees. Bullets can harm but not kill it. Its real vulnerability is fire. At least that’s what all of their intel had told them. Dean decided that he was going to track down the person who had compiled that information and kill them. That is, if he could ever stop writhing on the cave floor and screaming in complete and total agony. 

Dean Winchester and his younger brother, Sam, had taken on a case in Kemmerer, Wyoming and quickly assessed that the creature was probably an edderkopp-skapning. The missing children and overabundance of large sticky spider webs were a dead giveaway. They then had called Bobby, who’d sent them all the information he had from the hunter who’d previously encountered the creature. After getting all of their supplies ready, including flare guns and homemade flamethrowers, they’d tracked the spider-creature down to its cave. 

Dean had entered first, shinning his flashlight into the damp, dark tunnel that seemed to go on forever. He held the flamethrower in his hands and swept the area as he walked. As the tunnel opened up into a large cavern, the hunter saw a huge web covering one of the walls. Another tunnel opposite of their position led off from the open area. It was the only other way out, so Dean assumed that it was where the edderkopp-skapning (or Eddy as Dean had named it) had gone. Halfway across the cavern, he realized his mistake. He’d forgotten that spiders can cling to the ceiling. 

One moment Dean was walking and the next, a large cow-size spider dropped down in front of him. He stumbled backwards, bumping into Sam. Then they both leveled their weapons at the creature. Of course there was something else that they’d forgotten. Some spiders can jump pretty damn high. Eddy leaped over both of them and used its powerful back legs to push Sam into the web covered wall. Dean saw his brother trying to pull free only to be squirted by more webbing that the creature was shooting out. But now it was the spider-creature that had made a mistake. It was focused on trapping Sam and wasn’t paying any attention to Dean. The older hunter took a step back and turned on the flamethrower. Fire licked at Eddy and the monster let out a wail and jumped once more. Dean spun around to keep track of it and found the beast facing him. He wondered why the thing hadn’t turned to shoot webbing at him. Face to face the edderkopp-skapning had no defense. Or at least that’s what all the reports said. They were wrong. 

Before Dean could toast the creature, it opened its mouth and shot out a stream of some sort of liquid. The stuff hit Dean right in his face. The hunter dropped his weapon to the ground and clawed at his eyes, which were burning. Then the rest of his face felt like it was on fire as well. Dean fell to his knees, screaming in pain. In only moments, his whole body was in agony. He was being burned alive, but without the fire. Poison. The creature must have some sort of poison. Dean fell on his side, hands going from clutching at his face to hugging his middle and back again as he tried to find some way to alleviate the pain. But it was no use. His muscles and bones ached and his skin seemed to be pulling tightly against him. Everything felt wrong. And then, when he felt that he could take no more, Dean Winchester surrendered to the darkness.

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

Sam struggled to pull himself free of the webs that held him securely in place. He was trapped by some sticky stuff that a creature shot out of its butt. Oh yeah, Dean was going to have a lot of fun at his expense for this one. Speaking of his older brother…

Sam watched as the edderkopp-skapning jumped over Dean and turned to face him. It seemed like odd behavior for a monster that avoiding fighting adult humans. Then, without warning, the thing shot out a stream of liquid from its mouth. Sam watched in horror as Dean grabbed at his face and began to scream. He knew immediately that the liquid must’ve been some sort of venom. Sam had heard about spiders that used venom to begin the digestion process by liquefying their prey before consuming them. He prayed that that wasn’t what was happening to Dean. Then the spider-creature moved, effectively blocking his brother from his sight. But he could still hear the screams.

Sam redoubled his efforts to get free. He managed to get his right hand out but he’d dropped his flamethrower when he’d been kicked into the webs and he couldn’t reach his flare gun. If he could just reach the pocket knife that he kept in is left pocket he’d be able to cut the webs away. But he couldn’t reach it, so instead he kept trying to pull his other arm free. He was distracted by his brother’s screams as they were becoming weaker and strangely more high-pitched. They didn’t sound anything like Dean anymore. Then the cries abruptly stopped. The edderkopp-skapning moved closer to where the older hunter was. There was no way in hell that Sam would let that monster eat his brother.

The hunter pulled his gun out and shot the thing in the back of its head. It let out a grunt of pain and turned on him. Sam took aim and shot it in one of its many eyes. Then another. And another. It wailed in agony and turned to flee the cavern. Sam watched it skitter down the tunnel they had entered from. They would be safe for now.

He turned his head to check on Dean and let out a gasp. His brother was lying on his side, turned away from Sam, but one look at him told the younger hunter that there was something very wrong. He couldn’t see Dean’s head or face because his arm was covering it up. Well, at least the sleeve of his jacket was. But the sleeve, along with most of the rest of Dean’s wardrobe, seemed to be almost empty. The bottom part of the pant legs lay flat on the ground and from around the knees up the clothes were only slightly filled. Sam’s thoughts immediately went back to his earlier ideas about spider venom liquefying its prey. If that were the case, then Dean was already dead.

“Dean!” Sam yelled as he pulled and tugged against the webs. “Dean, can you hear me?”

There was no verbal response, but Sam could’ve sworn he saw the clothes shift slightly. With all his might he pulled his left hand from the webbing. As soon as it was free, the hunter retrieved his knife and quickly cut away the rest of the sticky trap. Then he ran to his brother’s side.

Sam dropped down to his knees but hesitated before turning Dean over. If his brother was being melted away by spider-creature venom, then that was something that Sam really didn’t want to see. But a tiny sounding moan spurred him into action. Grabbing Dean’s shoulder, which felt way too small under the jacket and shirts, Sam rolled his brother over. 

There was a moment of confusion as Sam stared down at the little child that had somehow gotten into this cave and snuck inside his brother’s clothes. But then he recognized the boy. He’d seen his picture before. This was the same child that had smiled into the camera while sitting with his mom, dad, and infant brother. And Sam had been the infant in that picture. The little boy that now lay on the ground in front of him was none other than Dean Winchester. A four-year old Dean Winchester.


	2. Little Big Brother

Chapter Two: Little Big Brother

Sam stared at the small child who, just a few minutes ago, had been his older brother. His brain was having a hard time processing that this was really Dean. The little boy let out another tiny moan and rolled his head to the side.

“Dean?” Sam quietly called to his brother. There was no response. He went to touch the boy’s face but hesitated. There was still some of the edderkopp-skapning’s venom on his skin and Sam wasn’t sure if it would be safe for him to come into contact with it. He was certain that it was the reason behind his brother’s unusual condition and didn’t want to meet the same fate himself. 

Taking the bag of supplies he’d been carrying, Sam rummaged through and retrieved a bottle of water. Then he took off his jacket and over-shirt and soaked the latter with the water. Sam used the wet cloth to carefully wash off Dean’s face. The boy made another small noise, but did not wake. Sam looked at Dean’s currently much too large clothing. The shirt had some venom on it, but the rest of the outfit was fine. Of course the clothing was useless to Dean while he was this size. Sam used his knife to cut open the t-shirt and then pulled his brother from the clothes. Kicking the dirty shirt aside, Sam lay the naked child down in Dean’s leather jacket and wrapped his little big brother up. After replacing his own jacket, he gently lifted the boy, pulling the small body close to his chest. Sam’s eyes widened in surprise as he felt Dean’s head snuggle closer into him. Then the now older brother picked up his bag and his weapons and started walking out of the cave. 

Sam kept on alert, but reached the exit with no problems. The hike back to the Impala, which they’d left in a rest stop parking area a few miles away, was long and rather difficult while holding the unconscious child and all their gear. Sam had to stop to rest several times, sitting down with Dean cradled in his lap. During those breaks, Sam couldn’t help but stare at his brother. He looked exactly like he had when he was four. It was just like looking at the old family photo, but this little guy was not just some keepsake from days past. This was really Dean. And he was actually pretty cute. His soft hair was lighter in color and longer than Dean usually kept it. His eyes, although currently closed, were large and round and his nose seemed a little too small for his face. His freckles stood out from his pale skin. The boy’s body was a bit on the thin side and he was maybe a little short for his age (Sam wasn’t certain of that as he had very little experience with small children). Looking at his brother, Sam felt extremely protective and wondered if that was how Dean always felt about him. 

As Sam continued walking, he tried very hard not to panic about what he was going to do with his pint-sized brother. Hundreds of questions and worries entered his mind, but he pushed them away. He couldn’t afford to freak out yet. First he needed to get Dean to safety and check him over completely. Then, once Dean woke up (please God let him wake up okay) he’d figure out what to do from there. Oh, and he’d have to call Bobby. The older hunter would know what to do. He always did.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief as he reached the parking lot. He picked up his pace as he neared the Impala, but was stopped by a voice from behind him.

“Is your son okay? Did he get hurt or is he just sleeping? You know, that’s not a hiking trail. You really shouldn’t be taking a small child out there.”

Sam turned around, holding Dean even closer to himself, and came face to face with an old woman. She must have been at least eighty years old and was shooting Sam a look of disapproval. She wore a hideous floral pattern dress and an equally ugly sunhat. 

“I know ma’am. But after a long car ride he really needed to stretch his legs, so I figured a walk would do him some good. He fell asleep on the way back.”

“Is that a gun you’re holding?” The old woman’s eyes were drawn to his homemade flamethrower.

“Uh, I think it’s an air gun or something. I found it while walking and picked it up so no kids would find it and get hurt. I’ll take it to the police station.” Sam wanted to get out of there before he ran out of excuses, but he had to get rid of the old lady first. She’d flip out if she saw him put Dean in the back seat of the car without a car seat. He just prayed that she didn’t notice that the boy wasn’t wearing anything under the large leather jacket. 

“Well, make sure you do. The police should arrest whatever hooligan leaves dangerous weapons lying around in a public place. What is this world coming to? I mean, just last night on the news, the six o’clock news mind you since I would never stay up so late to see the ten o’clock news, I saw the most awful…”

“Grandma, that’s enough.” A man in his mid-thirties had walked over and placed his hand on the old lady’s shoulder. “I’m sure this young man has to get his son home.”

The woman huffed. “You young people don’t even care about all this violence, do you? It’s all old hat to you. A man kills his wife and you don’t even blink. That’s what’s wrong with this world.”

“Yes, Grandma, we know. It’s very sad.” The man offered Sam a look of apology as he led the lady away. But before they got into their car the woman turned back and shook her finger at Sam.

“Now you take care of that little one.”

“I will.” Sam assured her. 

After they had driven off, Sam reached into Dean’s jacket pocket and pulled out the car keys. He unlocked the car and opened the back door, then gently placed Dean down on the seat, making sure he was still wrapped up tightly in the jacket. After his brother was settled, Sam stowed the weapons and gear in the trunk. He got in the driver’s seat, started the car, and drove out of the parking lot and away from the rest area. 

The half hour drive back to their motel was uneventful. Sam was a little nervous about the fact that Dean still had not woken up. He tried to remind himself that his brother’s body had just gone through quite a bit and that he was probably just recuperating. But still he couldn’t stop worrying.

Sam carried Dean into the dingy motel room that had been their home for the last couple of days. He laid the small boy down on the bed furthest from the door. Sam made sure that Dean lay on top of the blanket since the sheets looked like they hadn’t been washed in weeks and were covered with questionable stains. Then Sam removed the leather jacket from the tiny body and checked the child over to make sure there was no damage done to him. Except for the obvious age issue, Dean seemed to be alright. He had a couple of red splotches on his face from where the edderkopp-skapning’s venom had irritated his sensitive skin, but they were beginning to fade. All thing’s considered, his brother seemed to be in good condition. 

Sam rummaged through Dean’s duffle bag and produced a black t-shirt. He pulled it over the boy’s head and threaded the small, stick-like arms through the sleeves. Then he retrieved the blanket from the other bed and covered his brother up. Once he was certain that Dean was as comfortable as could be in a cheap hotel room with lumpy mattresses, he sat down at the table and pulled out his cell phone. 

Bobby picked up on the third ring.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Bobby.”

“Sam. You boys gank that spider thing yet?”

“Uh, about that…”

“What happened?”

“Was that hunter the only source of information you had about the creature?”

“Craig’s the only one I know who’s ever encountered one of them before.”

“Well, his intel was a little incomplete.”

Sam heard Bobby sigh. “I’ll ask again… what happened?”

“It spit some kind of venom on Dean.”

“Is he alright?”

“He’s… it’s weird Bobby. Even for us.”

“Just spit it out Sam. What’s wrong with yer brother?”

“By the time the edderkopp-skapning fled and I got to him, the damage was done. He’s… Bobby, he’s four years old.”

There was silence on the other end. 

“Come again?”

“He’s four years old. I found him lying on his side unconscious, practically buried in his clothes, looking exactly like he did when he was four.”

More silence followed.

“Is this some kinda prank? ‘Cause I ain’t laughing my ass off if it is.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“Balls!”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”

“Is he still Dean?”

“What do you mean?”

“Does yer brother remember his life, who he is? Or does he think he’s a four year old kid?”

Sam ran the hand that wasn’t clutching the phone through his hair. “I don’t know Bobby. He hasn’t woken up yet. He’s been out since the attack.” Then a thought hit him. “What am I going to do if he doesn’t remember and he wakes up looking for Mom and Dad?”

“Don’t go losing yer head. We don’t know what’s gonna happen when he wakes up, so keep calm for now.”

“Bobby, I don’t know what to do.”

“Yer gonna wait for Dean to wake from his beauty rest, see what’s goin’ on in that thick skull of his, get him some clothes since I doubt ya got anything that’s gonna fit him, and then get yer asses over here. In the mean time, I’m gonna see what I can dig up on this new development. That sound like a plan to you?” 

“Yeah. Thanks Bobby. But what about the creature? It got away.”

“If it got away, it’s long gone by now. It ain’t gonna return to its cave if it thinks the place is dangerous now. We’ll have to track it all over again. But right now we gotta concentrate on takin’ care of Dean.”

Sam nodded even though he knew that Bobby couldn’t see the gesture. “Of course Dean’s top priority.” He agreed. Then a groan from the bed caught his attention. Dean’s eyelids were fluttering slightly and he was shifting under the blanket. “I have to go. I think he’s waking up.”

“Take care of yer brother, Sam.”

“I will.” As Sam hung up the phone he wondered if Dean always felt the slight panic he was feeling now when put in charge of caring for his younger sibling.


	3. Second Childhood Starts Now

Chapter Three: Second Childhood Starts Now

Dean felt the darkness evaporating as his brother’s voice invaded his unconscious state. He felt tired and groggy and his body felt… wrong. That was the only word to describe it. He wasn’t in pain except for a slight burning sensation on his face but something felt very off. Dean let out a groan as he shifted and tried to open his eyes. His body seemed to resist his efforts, wanting nothing more than to pull him back under the gentle lull of sleep but Dean needed to wake up. He needed to know what was wrong with him. He remembered Eddy spitting in his face, then an awful lot of pain, and then nothing. He hoped that half his face wasn’t melted off or something gross like that. That would just suck.

“I have to go. I think he’s waking up.” Sam must’ve been talking on the phone to someone because Dean heard no response but then Sam said “I will.” He heard footsteps as his brother walked over to the bed Dean was lying on. Bed? How did he get back to the motel? There was no way Sam could’ve carried him all the way back to the car but he was certain that this was the first time he’d woken since the spider-creature had puked on him.

Dean forced his eyes open and saw Sam standing over him with a really concerned expression on his face. Oh, crap. This wasn’t going to be good.

“Dean? Hey, are you okay?” His voice was just a tad too gentle.

Dean licked his dry lips in preparation to talk and realized that his teeth felt strange. Ignoring it since he had no idea what it could mean, Dean answered his brother. “Yeah.” And that was all he said because something was very wrong with his voice. It wasn’t the rough, gravelly tone he was used to hearing but a soft, childish one. What the hell?

“Do you know who I am?” Sam asked. 

The bizarre question interrupted his thoughts and made him temporarily forget the whole voice issue. “Dude, what the hell kind of question is that? ‘Course I know who you are! I’m not brain dead or anything…” And there was that childlike voice saying his words for him. “And what the hell is wrong with me?”

He saw relief pass over Sam’s features. “Look man, don’t freak out, but the spider-creature’s venom did something to you.”

A truly horrible thought crossed Dean’s mind. “I’m not turning into one of those fuglies am I?”

“No. No, it’s nothing like that.”

Dean didn’t feel like wasting any more time asking questions. He sat up in bed and started to push the covers off of himself. But then he got a look at his hands. His tiny little hands with tiny little fingers that were much too small for a thirty year old man. And they were attached to equally small, thin arms that were dwarfed by the black t-shirt he was wearing. Heart racing, Dean ripped the blanket off of himself and stared down at the rest of his tiny body. The t-shirt covered him to his knees but he was sure that it would almost touch his feet if he were to stand up. As he gazed at the child sized body that could not possibly be his, he felt shock begin to set in. He started to tremble and felt tears prickle behind his eyes. Dean forced himself not to cry though.

“Sam, what the hell is wrong with me?” He repeated his question from earlier.

“I’m not sure, Dean. You appear to be four years old again, except now it seems that the change is only physical since you obviously remember everything from your life.”

“How do we fix this?” Dean questioned, not even wanting to consider the possibility that the change was permanent. 

“I don’t know. Yet. But Bobby’s working on it and we’re going to head out there to see him. It’s a fourteen hour drive so there’s a good chance that he’ll have answers by the time we get there.”

Dean nodded, still working hard to repress the panic that was bubbling inside of him. “Yeah, okay.”

“How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?”

“No. I feel kinda weird and my face feels sunburned but that’s it.”

“Good. That’s good.”

There was an awkward silence as the brothers searched for something to say. Finally Dean spoke.

“So, what happened after it sprayed me with that crap and I blacked out?”

“I thought it was going to eat you and the only weapon I could reach was my gun. I shot the thing in the back of its head and its eyes and it ran off. Then I got free and carried you out of there.”

“So it got away?”

“Yeah. Bobby says we’ll have to track it to a new hiding spot after we get you fixed up.”

“But shouldn’t we start tracking it now?”

“You’re not going on any hunts looking like that.”

Dean wanted to argue but he knew that Sam was right. He’d be nothing but a liability on a hunt right now. He just hated the thought of someone else getting attacked by Eddy because he’d screwed up the job. With a sigh he swung his legs off the side of the bed and dropped to the floor. Dean stumbled and almost fell, not expecting his legs to be so short. This tiny body was going to take some getting used to. 

“Where are you going?” Sam asked.

“Bathroom, dude. I gotta take a pee. The plumbing might be smaller but it still needs to be drained.”

“Do you need any help?”

“Not funny.” Dean shot back before realizing that Sam was being serious. “Hey, I’ve been potty trained a long time now.”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just… you might not be able to reach the toilet.”

“I’ll manage.” Dean made his way across the room and to the small bathroom. His earlier guess was correct. The t-shirt hung to just above his ankles. One of his boney shoulders poked out the shirt collar. Dean knew that he must look ridiculous. Once inside the bathroom, he shut the door and leaned against it. The boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fighting to keep his emotions under control. It was much harder than usual.

After a moment he walked over to the toilet. Looking at it, he felt almost like crying. Sam had been right. The toilet was too big. But the idea of asking his younger brother (‘you’re the younger brother now’ a voice in his head mocked him) for help to pee was just way too humiliating. Dean felt his face heat up with just the thought of it. So instead he opened the small closet and pulled out the bath towels one at a time. Then he carried them over and placed them one on top of the other in front of the toilet. After that was done, Dean struggled out of the t-shirt so he wouldn’t trip over it. Besides, he wasn’t sure how to hold it up while peeing and didn’t want to accidentally get it wet. Sam would never let him live that down. Now completely naked, Dean carefully climbed up on the pile of towels, opened the lid, and relieved himself. When he was done he closed the lid, flushed, then climbed onto the toilet to reach the sink next to him so he could wash his hands. Once the water was turned off and he was back on the ground, Dean eyed the shower stall. But one glance told him that he’d need help reaching the knobs and it wasn’t like he could bring the towels into the shower with him. 

Dean was about to put his t-shirt back on when he caught sight of the full length mirror on the bathroom door. As if in a trance, he walked slowly towards it, staring at his reflection. But no, that tiny little boy could not be him. Because that tiny little boy could not save people or hunt things. And that tiny little boy certainly couldn’t keep Sammy safe. That tiny little boy was useless. He was useless. And then there were tears streaming down the child’s face. Dean looked away, not wanting to see himself cry. He wanted to stop the waterworks but he couldn’t. What was wrong with him? Dean didn’t just look like a four year old, he felt like one. Now he understood why small children threw temper tantrums all the time. The emotions he felt just seemed too big for his small body to handle. And even Dean Winchester, who’d learned to suppress his feelings while still in grade school, couldn’t deal with the rollercoaster going on inside of himself. 

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

“Dean, you okay in there?”

Dean wiped away any trace of the tears. “Yeah, I’m fine. Uh, could you please come turn on the shower?” He grabbed the shirt from the floor and wrapped it around his waist. He knew that Sam had already seen him naked like this, but it was still damned embarrassing. 

The door opened and Sam came in. Dean watched the much taller man go over to the shower, take the shampoo bottle and soap from the high shelf and put them on the floor where Dean could reach them, turn the water on, and even check the temperature. Then his brother turned to him and smiled. 

“All set.”

The boy walked over to the stall and waited for Sam to leave. He didn’t. 

“I’m not showering in front of you, dude.”

“I can’t leave you in the shower alone.”

“I’m not a kid!” Dean all but yelled.

Sam looked like he was going to argue that point but instead replied “You’re still getting used to being this size. If you slip and fall, you could get seriously hurt. I’ll turn around and I won’t look unless you ask for help. Okay?”

“Fine.” Dean mumbled, sure that that was the best offer he’d get.

When the shower was over (and boy did it feel good to get clean), Dean dried himself off and put the over-sized t-shirt back on. 

“Okay, Sam. I’m decent.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” Sam responded as he turned back around to face his brother.

“Ha ha. You’re a riot.”

“I’ve packed up all our things. We can head out as soon as I grab a shower.” Sam informed him.

“We’re going to Bobby’s, right?”

“First we’re going to Wal-Mart to get you some clothes.” 

“I’m not going into a store dressed like this!”

“Well, I’m not leaving you here alone. It’s not safe for you to be on your own in a dump like this while you’re four years old. Also, the closest store is an hour or so away and it would be a huge waste of time to drive there and then have to drive all the way back to pick you up.”

“Can’t you just go straight to Bobby’s and leave me there while you shop?”

“We’ll have to stop for food on the way and I doubt you want to go into a restaurant dressed in just a shirt. Besides, do you really trust me to pick out clothes for you in the children’s section?”

“No way, man. You’re so gay that I’d probably end up with Hello Kitty and Tinkerbell.”

Sam laughed. “Then you’re coming with me to Wal-Mart.”

“Alright.” Dean finally agreed. “I’ll wait for you out there.” Dean nodded towards the door. He was just about to walk out when Sam called after him.

“Don’t leave the motel room.”

“Yeah, I know. The world is a dangerous place for little Deanie. I got it, okay.”

Dean made sure to slam the bathroom door shut behind him. He’d only been awake at this age for an hour or so and already it was severely frustrating. Being a kid sucked and something was telling him that things would get worse before they got better.


	4. Not My Style

Chapter Four: Not My Style

Dean sat in the back of the Impala feeling miserable. He wanted to drive his baby more than anything right now since that was one of the only things that consistently gave him comfort. But he couldn’t, and if they didn’t reverse what had been done to him, then he wouldn’t be driving for twelve more years. Or, even worse, he may never get behind the wheel again if for some reason the venom not only de-aged him but halted his aging process as well. Nope, not thinking about that.

Sam kept glancing back at him in the rearview mirror, looking concerned and a little anxious. Dean knew that his brother was trying to help him, especially when the older sibling put in one of the Metallica tapes, but nothing was making the boy feel better. He hated his new body, his out of control emotions (which he was not going to tell Sam about), and all of the restrictions he now had. And every time he considered the possibility that he’d be stuck this way he felt like crying.

“You okay back there Dean?”

“Peachy.”

“You know that I can’t let you ride up front, right? If we passed a cop car we’d be pulled over for sure.”

“I know.” They had already had that discussion when they were getting in the car earlier.

“Do you want me to turn up the music?”

Well that was a first. And not an offer that Dean could ever turn down. “Sure. Thanks.”

“No problem.” 

The volume of the music was raised a bit and Dean began to nod his head to the rhythm and sing along. 

“Where do I take this pain of mine  
I run, but it stays right my side  
So tear me open, pour me out  
There's things inside that scream and shout  
And the pain still hates me  
So hold me, until it sleeps

Just like the curse, just like the stray  
You feed it once, and now it stays  
So tear me open, but beware  
There's things inside without a care  
And the dirt still stains me  
So wash me, until I'm clean.”

He was just getting really into it, raising his childish little voice as loud as it could go, when the car stopped and the radio turned off.

“We’re here.” Sam announced.

Dean made a face. He was annoyed that his song had been interrupted and he was still reluctant to go into the store dressed the way he was. But he had no choice in the matter. Sam opened the back door and reached in to pick Dean up.

“Hey, hands off. I can walk.”

“You’re not walking across the parking lot or in the store with no shoes on.”

“Fine.” Dean gave in. He sighed. Giving in to Sam seemed to be the theme of the day. 

Sam pulled him out of the car and held him tightly to his chest. Dean was torn between telling Sam to take it easy and loosen his grip before he crushed the boy’s small body or giving in to his four year old instincts by holding his brother just as tight and lying his head on the man’s shoulder. He settled for doing neither and just letting himself be carried into Wal-Mart. 

Once inside, Sam placed Dean in the back of one of the shopping carts and began pushing him down the aisles towards the children’s department. Dean drew his knees up to his chest and pulled the shirt down to his ankles. He was as covered as he was going to be. After a minute, the older Winchester stopped to look at a display of discounted bags of candy (the perfect road trip snack) when a pretty, young woman parked her carriage next to them. A small dark-haired toddler in a bright pink dress sat in the child seat sucking her thumb. The woman was about to grab a bag of gummy bears when she caught sight of Dean.

“Is that child wearing just a t-shirt?” She sounded horrified as she glared at Sam.

“Uh, yeah. I…” When Sam faltered, obviously not having thought through a good lie, Dean decided to give his brother a break.

“Yeah,” He chimed in, pouring as much cuteness and innocence into his expression and voice as possible. “We flew here but the plane lost my stuff and I was sad so Daddy let me wear his shirt and took me here to buy all new stuff.”

“He did?” The woman put on the fake-enthusiastic voice many adults use when speaking to small children. Dean felt sorry for the woman’s daughter. “Well, what a nice Daddy you have.” She sent a smile at the man she’d been staring daggers at only moments before. “He’s really cute. You’re lucky to have him.”

Sam nodded. “Yes I am. And you too.” He pointed to the little girl.

The woman smiled again, grabbed the bag of candy, and with a wave she resumed her shopping trip. 

Sam let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks Dean.”

“Dude, you totally owe me.” 

Sam pulled a bag of Raisinettes, a bag of chocolate covered pretzels, and a bag of peanut M&Ms off the rack and threw them to Dean. 

“Does this settle the debt?”

“It’s a start. You know, if we weren’t in such a rush to get to Bobby’s, I totally could’ve hooked you up with her.”

“What?” Sam looked at Dean as if he were nuts.

“Dude, she was into you. Chicks dig guys with little kids.”

“She had a baby, Dean!”

“But no wedding band.”

Sam just shook his head in disbelief, and continued their trip to the kids clothing section. 

When they arrived at their destination, Dean stood up and raised his arms. “Help me out of here.”

“You still don’t have shoes.” 

“Don’t care. I’m going to pick out my own clothes so get me outta this cart before I have to try and climb out on my own.”

It was Sam’s turn to relent. Once Dean was standing on the floor, he immediately began sorting through the clothes, looking for something that matched his tastes. Sam stepped over to the shelf of underwear and socks while Dean looked at the jeans. He remembered the sizes from when he had to help their father shop for Sammy. He was now four, so he picked up a pair of 4T pants and held them up to himself. They were a little big but nothing that a belt wouldn’t fix. Dean tossed two pairs into the cart then looked at the t-shirts. Most were terribly lame. Dean pitied all of the little guys out there that had to wear that crap. Why in the world did no one consider that making plain black tees for kids was a great idea? Then he grinned. A black Batman t-shirt that featured a large bat-symbol on the chest joined the jeans in the cart. Next he picked out a dark blue t-shirt with skulls and crossbones that read ‘Bad to the Bone’. Then a gray tee with a black outline of a guitar. Finally he selected a black t-shirt that proclaimed ‘Nothing but Trouble!’. Satisfied that he wouldn’t look like a complete dork, he was about to ask Sam to put him back in the cart when something caught his eye.

“No way? That’s awesome!” Dean ran over to the rack and started looking through the flannel shirts that hung there. There was a blue one, a black one, and a red one that would fit him. Denim, tees, and over-shirts all in his size. Maybe being a kid didn’t suck that badly. 

“Dean, don’t wander that far away.” Sam scolded as he approached him.

With a shrug, the boy tossed the shirts in the carriage. Sam sighed, but obviously decided it was better to drop the subject. He looked into the cart. 

“Grab another pair of jeans. And we should pick out at least two more shirts.”

“Seriously? I don’t need a whole new wardrobe dude, this is only temporary.”

“But we don’t know how long it will last and we should be prepared.”

Dean tossed another pair of jeans in and looked at the shirts on display. 

“There’s no other good shirts.”

“What about Cars?”

“I’m not wearing a shirt that has a big cartoon car with eyes and a mouth. That’s just dumb.”

“Superman?”

“Superman’s gay.”

“No he’s not.”

“Did you see his long girly hair in the nineties?”

“Fine. What about this one? It doesn’t have any pictures on it.”

“I’m not wearing a striped polo shirt.”

“Why not?” Sam was beginning to sound tired.

“’Cause then I’d look gay.”

“Dean.” There was a warning of complete loss of patience in his tone. It amused Dean to no end. But he also didn’t want to push his brother too far. So he redoubled his efforts to find at least one more suitable t-shirt. Finally he picked out a dark green shirt with a picture of a small lizard on the left breast. It wasn’t too bad and under a flannel shirt the picture wouldn’t even be noticeable. Appeased by the compromise, Sam put Dean back in the carriage. They grabbed a belt on their way out of the clothing section and then went to the shoe department. 

“Okay, Dean.” Sam lifted him once more from the cart. “Stand on the shoe ruler right there so I can see what size you need.”

Dean did as asked and then was placed back in the shopping cart. He was starting to feel a little like luggage. Sam tossed a pair of shoes into the child seat where Dean assumed he’d also kept the packages of socks and underwear. Then they were off to the child supplies section. Dean cringed when he realized that Sam was taking him down the aisle that displayed the car seats.

“No way, man. I’m not sitting in a baby seat.”

“Dean, you have to. We have a long ride to Bobby’s and I’m not risking getting pulled over by the cops. Besides, if we got into an accident you’d be killed for sure without one of those.”

“I’m not a baby.” Dean complained. This was beyond humiliating.

“I know Dean. But I don’t want anything happening to you. Besides, look. We can get one of those backless booster seats. You’re big enough for one of them and they look nothing like a regular car seat.” Dean didn’t answer, so Sam started looking at them. “Do you want blue flames or green camouflage?” When Dean still didn’t reply, Sam sighed in frustration. “I can always get the one with pink and purple peace signs. That would look great in the Impala.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“Blue flames.” Dean decided. He knew that he was being difficult. Sam was trying his best to make this whole experience as painless as possible and Dean was being a jerk to him. He silently vowed to try and be a little nicer. Besides, with Dean in this state, Sam could really screw him over if he didn’t clean up his act a bit.

The shopping done, the brothers stopped at the Subway at the front of the store and shared a meatball sub with some potato chips and a coke. Then they proceeded to the checkout. Once everything was paid for, Sam pushed the cart to the service desk. Dean watched as his brother went through the bags and put an entire outfit in one. 

“Excuse me ma’am?” Sam got the service clerk’s attention. “I need to go into the bathroom with my son. Could you please keep an eye on my carriage?”

“Not a problem, sir. Hi cutie.” She waved at Dean.

He smiled and waved back at the woman. Sam picked Dean up and carried him and the bag to the restroom. 

When they were in the bathroom, Sam put Dean down inside the handicap stall and handed the bag to him. 

“Get dressed. Then we can leave.”

“Okay.” Dean closed the door after Sam stepped out and stood on tiptoes to lock it. He pulled the black t-shirt off and dropped it on the floor. Then Dean opened the shopping bag and grabbed the package of underwear.

“Sam, why did you get me Spiderman underwear?”

“Because I didn’t think you wanted Mickey Mouse or Sponge Bob.”

“Yeah, good call.” Dean admitted. “But the thought of having spiders in that area after what happened to me is just unnerving.”

He heard Sam laugh. Dean opened the package and pulled on a pair of the red and blue underwear. Next he removed the tags and stickers from the jeans, put them on, and then tightened them with the belt. Sam had put the gray guitar tee and the black flannel shirt in the bag. Dean put them on and rolled up the shirt sleeves to his elbows. He was just pulling on a pair of white and gray socks when he heard the restroom door open. 

“What do you think was wrong with that guy?” A voice asked. The man sounded middle aged.

“Probably drugs.” Someone responded.

“What kind of drugs does that to a person’s eyes though? They looked completely black.”

Dean’s eyes widened upon hearing that. Demon? Here? He doubted that they had come for the rollback prices.

“I don’t know, but I sure hope he’s not still standing by the bathroom door when we leave. Guy gave me the creeps.”

The conversation ended as Dean heard two bathroom stall doors close and lock. Then there was a light tap at his door. Dean opened it and looked up at Sam.

“Dean,”

“Yeah, I heard.”

Sam’s voice was just above a whisper. “I’m going to check it out. Stay here and don’t leave this stall or even unlock it again until I’m back, okay.”

Dean nodded. 

Sam pulled out a pocket knife and handed it to Dean. They both knew it would do no good as protection against demons, but Dean felt better holding a weapon and Sam seemed to understand that.

“Be careful, Sam.”

“I will.” 

And then Dean was alone. He relocked the door, shoved the knife into his jeans pocket and then put on his new shoes. They had a Spiderman design on them and they lit up whenever he took a step. What the hell had Sam been thinking? 

Dean was putting the oversized black t-shirt into the shopping bag when he heard both of the other occupied stalls open. A moment later there was a knock at his door.

“Taking a pee in here.” He called out.

Not a second later, the door was kicked in. Two middle aged men walked into the handicap stall and stared at Dean. They both wore cocky, somewhat amused expressions on their faces and their eyes were pure black.


	5. Face Your Demons

Chapter Five: Face Your Demons

There was nowhere for Dean to go. The handicap stall was much larger than a regular bathroom stall but it was still a tiny place to be trapped with two demon possessed guys. They completely blocked his way out. Dean briefly considered trying to crawl under the stall to escape, but quickly dismissed that plan of action. There was just no way he’d make it under and to freedom before one of the guys could grab him. He pulled the pocket knife out, flicked out the blade, and held it in front of himself.

“Oh, no!” The taller of the two men mocked him. The man was balding and slightly overweight but was probably almost as tall as Sam. Dean recognized his voice. He was the guy who had entered the bathroom earlier and said he’d seen someone with black eyes. “Look, the little baby’s got a knife. I guess we’re in trouble now.”

The other demon laughed. He was about a foot shorter than his friend but was built like a boxer. Both demons pulled out hunting knives much larger than Dean’s. 

“Stay back.” Dean warned, embarrassed that his voice broke on those words. His heart was beating like crazy, as if trying to break right out of his little chest. Those damned four year old emotions he’d been wrestling with ever since waking up were now almost suffocating him with fear. It didn’t help that the adult portion of his mind acknowledged that these two could very easily kill him. 

“Why don’t you make us?” Boxer replied. 

“Don’t challenge him or he might throw a temper tantrum.” Baldy teased.

“Or I might just throw your ugly asses back to Hell.” Dean shot back at him. The words might have had more of an impact if he hadn’t felt his small body begin to tremble.

Boxer advanced towards the boy, while Baldy held back to continue blocking the exit. Dean stepped backwards and felt his lower back hit the toilet. He was trapped and had to face the fact that the demon would be able to gut him long before his short arm would come close enough to attack his opponent. 

Dean glanced over at Baldy and felt a smile come to his face. Because, standing right behind the pudgy demon possessed man was Sam, and in Sam’s hand was the demon killing knife. Baldy’s throat was slit before he even knew what was happening. Boxer heard his companion’s body hit the floor and turned to see Sam rushing him. The older Winchester slashed with the knife, but the demon blocked it and used a karate move that disarmed the hunter. The knife fell to the floor just inches away from Dean’s brand new Spiderman shoes. 

The boy quickly closed the pocket knife and put it away. Then he picked up the demon killing weapon. He looked on as his brother faced off with the demon.

“Nice diversion.” Sam commented. “Make up a story about a black-eyed man to get me to leave Dean alone. Clever.”

“What made you come back?” The possessed man asked.

“There was no one out there. You probably knew that and figured I’d spend some time looking for the guy but I wasn’t going to leave Dean in here alone. I was about to open the restroom door when I heard this stall door get kicked in. Not too subtle of you.”

“So you snuck inside and tried to kill us. Nice plan but you lost your knife.”

“How did you find us? How did you even know what happened to Dean?” Sam’s eyes flickered briefly to Dean but didn’t linger, so as not to draw attention to the child. Dean was inch by inch closing the distance between himself and the demon. 

“I saw you carry him from the creature’s lair.”

“You were watching us?”

“Such violence in this world, don’t you think?” The demon laughed.

“You were in that old woman?” Sam seemed surprised. Dean had no clue what they were talking about, but he was almost close enough to strike.

“And he was the lady’s grandson.” Boxer nodded at Baldy. “You never even had a clue. And you’re brother’s condition is just too perfect. This makes him an easy target. You Lucifer needs alive, but Dean Winchester is nothing but a pain in the ass.”

“You want a pain? Try this.” Dean spat out as he stepped around and in front of the demon and stabbed him in the guts. 

Unfortunately, his new body wasn’t nearly as strong and the knife didn’t penetrate enough to kill the black-eyes bastard. Boxer let out a cry of pain and rage and backhanded Dean across the face. The force of the blow sent him tumbling back. Dean fell and hit the back of his head on the toilet before collapsing onto the ground. The boy lay there trying to blink away the spots dancing across his vision. He heard Sam call his name and then yell some profanities at the demon. Dean looked over just in time to see his brother push the knife further into the possessed man. The boy’s vision blacked out for a moment and when the room came back into focus he saw Sam kneeling in front of him.

“Dean? Hey, buddy, are you okay?”

Dean wanted to say that he was fine. He wanted to make some wiseass crack. He wanted to get up and leave the restroom, possibly kicking Boxer’s body on the way out. But instead he burst into tears. He was scared, in pain, and embarrassed and he just couldn’t control the emotions any longer. 

Dean felt Sam scoop him up into his arms and carry him away from the bathroom stall. He was taken out of the restroom and to the service desk, where Sam readjusted his hold on his brother so he could push the shopping cart without putting the boy down. Then Sam carried him through the parking lot and placed him in the back seat of the Impala. He heard the trunk open, stuff get tossed inside, and then the trunk was closed. Sam got into the driver’s seat and started the car. Dean curled up on his side on the seat and just kept crying.

“I want to put some distance between us and the store. I’ll stop in a bit to install the booster seat, okay?”

Dean didn’t respond as the car drove out of the Wal-Mart parking lot.

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

 

Sam stopped the car outside of the motel and looked into the back seat. His brother was slumped over in the booster seat, the seatbelt the only thing keeping him from falling over. The boy had fallen asleep an hour ago, not long after they’d stopped to put in the booster seat. Sam had been pleased to discover that the safety item just sat on the seat and was held in place by a combination of the child’s weight and the car’s seatbelt. No long, labor intensive installation had been required. 

By the time they’d reached that rest area, Dean had stopped crying and was trying to pretend that it had never happened. Sam was confused by the odd display of behavior. Dean may look like a child but had proven to still be himself, yet the crying fit had definitely not been typical of his brother. He wondered if Dean was feeling the emotions of a typical four year old child. It would make sense, seeing as to how a person’s emotions were controlled by a mix of brain chemistry and hormones and both of those things would have to have been effected by Dean’s transformation. But Sam hadn’t considered this before now because Dean’s memories were intact and he’d acted normal. But apparently ‘acted’ was the key word there. Obviously Dean had decided not to let his brother know that he was dealing with the childlike emotions, probably feeling that it would make him seem weak. Damn stubborn jerk.

Sam got out of the car and walked around to the back door. He opened it, released the seatbelt, and picked Dean up. There was no way he’d leave his brother in the car as he went to go check in. Dean stirred and blinked sleepily.

“Sammy?”

“Go back to sleep, Dean.”

“Where are we?”

“At a motel. I’m going to get us a room for the night. We can finish the drive to Bobby’s tomorrow. I already called to let him know.”

“Put me down. I can walk.” The boy started struggling in his arms.

“Dean, just relax. You need rest.”

“Dude, I’m fine. Put me down.”

With a mental shrug, Sam placed Dean on the asphalt. The boy stumbled a little and rubbed his eyes. Sam grabbed his hand and started towards the office.

“I don’t need to be led around.” Dean complained.

“Just hold my hand Dean.”

“Fine.” But there was no defiance in his tone this time. Just tired acceptance.

If Dean noticed that this was a more upscale motel than they usually slept in, he didn’t mention it. Sam didn’t want to crash in one of their usual crappy motels and risk some pervert going after his brother. Of course it might be humorous to see Dean tell them off and kick them in the nuts, but Sam didn’t want the little guy getting hurt. Again. He couldn’t believe he’d been stupid enough to leave the kid alone in the bathroom with two demons. Dean still had his mind, his quick thinking, and his hunter instincts but he couldn’t physically defend himself. 

“Can I help you, sir?” A woman in her early thirties asked from behind the check-in counter.

“Christo.” Sam mumbled. Better safe than sorry. The woman didn’t react except to give him a confused look.

“Excuse me?”

No demon there. “Oh, I said ‘hello’.”

“Oh. Well, hi.”

“I need a room for my son and I. Just for overnight.”

“Not a problem.” She typed away at the computer as he handed her a credit card. After a moment she handed him back the card and a key. “You’ll be in room eleven.” Then she smiled brightly and reached over the counter to hand Dean a bright red lollypop. “And this is for you, kiddo. Just don’t eat it until your Daddy says it’s okay.”

Sam watched as Dean favored her with a brilliant grin. “Thanks a lot, ma’am.”

“You’re welcome sweetie. Cute kid you got there.” She informed Sam.

“Thanks.” Sam nodded to her, took Dean’s hand and left the office. As soon as they were out of earshot, Dean looked up at Sam.

“Hey, I’m only four and chicks still prefer me. Gotta step up your game there, Sammy.”

“Shut up, Dean.” Sam replied. But it was great to hear him sound like his old self again.

They grabbed their bags from the trunk and got into their room. Once inside, Dean took out the salt and put lines by the door and windows. Sam stood up on a chair and drew a devil’s trap right above the front entrance. He felt a little bad about leaving satanic-looking symbols in such a nice motel, but Dean’s safety came first. Maybe he’d leave a little cash behind to pay for the ceiling paint the woman would need to use to cover it up. 

Once the room was as protected as it was going to be, Dean climbed up on one of the beds and crawled under the covers. He was out the moment his head hit the pillow.

Sam sat watching his brother sleep. It had been a long, strange day. He wondered what tomorrow would bring.


	6. Nightmares and Fast Food

Chapter Six: Nightmares and Fast Food

The pain was terrible and all-consuming. Dean was strapped down tightly as his skin was cut and peeled away. Then salt was poured on his wounds and roughly rubbed into them. He’d scream in agony if he could, but his throat was raw and any noise he made hurt as badly as the fresh cuts being made on his stomach. Then the demon’s hands pulled the two sides of the slice further from each other, effectively opening Dean up. If he weren’t already in Hell, that probably would’ve killed him. Dean felt the demon plunge its hand into his body and begin to pull out his internal organs. The torture was made worse by the knowledge that when it was all over, Dean’s body would once again be made whole and his torment would begin all over again. But between torture sessions, he’d be asked that question. The one he always answered no to. Some days he wasn’t even sure why he said no anymore. He knew he couldn’t go on this way indefinitely, but he also knew that there was no way out of here. He now faced eternal torment in Hell. Unless of course, he gave in and said yes. Got off the rack and became a torturer instead of the tortured. But no. He couldn’t do that, could he? Then the demon stabbed the knife deep into Dean’s eye, destroying it and slicing into the bone of the socket. Dean found his voice then and let out a scream.

“Ahhhhhh!” Dean sat up as the cry left his mouth. Somehow he’d come free of his bindings. He didn’t hesitate to jump off of the rack and try to escape. It was dark and he fell to the ground. His body no longer hurt but it felt wrong somehow. That didn’t matter though. He had to run. Dean got to his feet and was about to take off when a light came on. It was bright and sudden. Dean covered his eyes, wondering what form of new torture he was about to endure. Then large arms grabbed him from behind. Whatever demon this was, it was incredibly huge. 

“No! Let go of me you son of a bitch!” Dean yelled as he kicked backwards at it and tried to pull free.

“Dean! Dean, you have to calm down!”

The voice sounded like Sam, but Sam wasn’t down here. Besides, Sam was taller than him but not by this much. It had to be some kind of demon trick. So Dean did the only thing he could think to do with his arms pinned and his legs useless. He bit down on the demon bastard’s arm. 

“Oh crap! Damn it Dean! That hurts!”

Dean tasted blood. But the demons down here didn’t bleed. But that must mean…

“Sammy?”

Dean went still. The arm holding him in place loosened and he was turned around. Dean looked up to see his brother looking down at him, his expression a mixture of pain and worry. But why was Sam so big. And then it came back to him. Sam wasn’t any bigger than normal. It was Dean that was small. He wasn’t in Hell, he was just stuck as a four year old kid. Close enough.

When Dean had gotten his breathing back under control, he offered Sam a weak smile. 

“Uh, sorry ‘bout that. Thought you were someone else.”

“I’m glad I’m not whoever you thought I was.” Sam commented as he looked down at the deep teeth marks in his arm. “Or you may have eaten my whole arm off.”

“No way, man. You don’t taste very good.” Dean pulled away from Sam’s arms.

“You want to tell me what that was all about?” Sam asked.

“Not really.”

“You have a nightmare?”

“No, I was dreaming about super models.”

“Dean.”

“What?”

“You freaked out, jumped out of bed, and tried to make a run for it. You didn’t even know where you were or who I was.”

“Thanks for the recap, Sam. I had completely forgotten about what happened in the last few minutes.”

“I’m being serious, Dean. That’s not a good sign. That indicates that you were having a flashback. What was it about?”

“Just drop it.”

“Was it Hell?”

“I said drop it!” Dean was feeling overwhelmed, but there was no way that he was going to cry in front of Sam again.

“Dean,” Sam was talking too gently, as if addressing a terrified child. But Dean was not some terrified child. He was an adult who just happened to be a little on the small side at the moment and he wished Sam would treat him that way. “I think you’re experiencing the emotions of a four year old. And I think you know that. And as a four year old, you can’t just keep repressing stuff like this. It’s going to be too much for you.”

“Thank you for your assessment, Dr, Phil. Now shut the hell up!” Dean started walking towards the door, planning on getting in the Impala and going for a long ride, when he remembered his predicament. 

He wanted to kick something in frustration, but that would just prove the whole ‘emotions of a four year old’ thing. So instead Dean turned and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Once he made sure the door was locked so that Sam wouldn’t be tempted to follow him inside, Dean sat on the floor and leaned his head against the wall. This sucked. He hated being stuck this way and now it was making his Hell memories so much worse. He could feel his body still trembling and had to fight the tears that were trying their damnedest to escape. This damned four year old body, with its damned four year old emotions, was making all the work he’d done to compartmentalize those forty years in Hell dissolve. Dean rubbed his hands over his face, trying to get a grip. And now not only did he have to deal with all of this crap, but Sam had found out about it. The brother he was supposed to protect now knew how incredibly weak he’d become. That thought did not help his losing battle against his emotions. Just as he felt the first few tears slide down his cheeks, Dean saw a spider skitter across the bathroom floor. Tears turned to anger and the boy got to his feet and ran at the eight legged pest. Not caring that his feet were bare and he could easily get bitten, Dean stomped the tiny spider over and over until it was just a dark smear on the tiled floor. Satisfied that the thing had been taken care of, Dean wiped the bottom of his foot off with a piece of toilet paper and then left the bathroom. 

Sam had gone back to bed, but Dean could tell that his brother wasn’t sleeping. Without a word, the boy climbed up into his own bed and spent the next hour and a half staring at the ceiling, hoping to stay awake the rest of the night to avoid any more dreams. But his little body’s need for rest finally won out and he fell into a restless sleep filled with the memories of pain and torment.

The next morning, Sam was wise enough to not mention anything from the night before. Their breakfast consisted of packages of mini doughnuts and cans of soda that Sam had gotten from the vending machine outside. When they were done, Dean got dressed in a clean pair of jeans and his black ‘Nothing but Trouble!’ t-shirt. Next he pulled on socks and shoes. After putting on his red over-shirt and rolling up the sleeves, the boy went into the bathroom to comb his hair and brush his teeth. He went through his travel bag and pulled out his comb, tooth brush, and toothpaste, grimacing when he saw his razor. No shaving needed today. The toothbrush turned out to be too big for his mouth and was very uncomfortable to use, but Dean wasn’t going to mention it to Sam. He’d be damned if he was going to get a little kid tooth brush decorated with cartoon characters. When he was done, he relieved himself and then left the bathroom.

“Okay, dude. Let’s hit the road.”

Once in the car, Dean pulled out the lollipop he’d been given the night before, took off the wrapper and shoved it into his mouth. Sam glanced back at him.

“You know that it’s not safe to eat that in the car, right? You could choke on it.”

“You know that it’s not safe to try and stop me from eating it right? I could choke you.” Dean replied.

Sam chuckled and shook his head. 

Dean watched as the scenery flew by. He wanted to get to Bobby’s and get some answers. Hopefully they’d be the answers that he wanted. If Bobby couldn’t find a way to fix this, he’d be screwed. He’d be stuck being helpless and useless. Nothing but a burden on his brother. His rather depressing thoughts were interrupted by Sam.

“Hey Dean, you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Good, ‘cause we just stopped to eat”

With a start Dean realized that the car was already parked and he had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t even noticed. The boy unfastened his seat belt, pushed open the door, and hopped out of the Impala. It was a bit of a drop and he almost ended up face first on the pavement. After regaining his balance, Dean looked up to see that they were parked outside a McDonald’s. 

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“It’s the only place to eat for miles. Besides, it’s not like we don’t eat at these places all the time.”

Dean knew that that was true, but in his current condition a place designed for children just pissed him off. But he was hungry and he knew that Sam was too, so he swallowed his pride and started towards the brightly colored fast food restaurant. He only got a few steps before Sam reached down and grabbed his hand. Dean made a face, but didn’t try to pull away.

Once inside, Dean studied the menu. It took only a moment to decide what he wanted. 

“Hey, get me the bacon angus burger meal.”

“Dean, that’s a third pound burger.”

“So?”

“So, there’s no way you’re gonna be able to eat all that. You probably couldn’t even fit enough of it into your mouth to take a bite.”

“Can I take your order?” An older man asked from behind the counter.

“Yeah.” Sam responded. “I’ll have a grilled chicken sandwich, a medium drink, and a cheese burger Happy Meal, please.” Dean was about to protest when Sam continued. “And is there any way I could get some bacon on that burger?”

The employee looked down at Dean who shot him a pleading look. “Sure, no problem.”

“Thank you.” Sam replied, handing over the money for their food. 

Within minutes they were sitting in a booth, unwrapping their lunches. Dean opened the red and yellow box and pulled out his cheese burger and fries. In the box there was also a package of apple slices and a Hotwheels car. Dean pocketed the car (just in case he ever found a use for it) but left the healthy snack behind. Then he dug into the sandwich. The boy managed to finish the burger and most of his fries before realizing that Sam had been right. He was stuffed. He threw the remaining fries into the Happy Meal box with the rest of his trash and put the box onto the tray. Sam got up and threw everything away. 

“I gotta use the bathroom before we go.” Dean announced to his brother.

“Sure, let’s go.”

Dean was relieved that Sam was going too. After his encounter the day before, he was a little reluctant to use public restrooms alone. 

Once he’d done his business, the Winchesters headed for the exit. On the way out, Sam stopped and pointed to the bench near the front counter. On it sat a statue of Ronald McDonald.

“Hey Dean, you want to go sit in Ronald’s lap? I can take your picture.” Sam teased.

“Bite me.” Dean shot back. 

They heard a grunt of disapproval from an old woman waiting in line.

“You shouldn’t say things like that, Dean.” Sam scolded, obviously uncomfortable with the way the woman and others in the restaurant were looking at them.

Dean put on his most innocent expression and replied loudly enough for everyone to hear. “But Daddy, you say it all the time.”

Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the building. As soon as they hit the parking lot, Dean burst out laughing. 

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” 

“Dude, I’m hilarious.”

Sam opened the back door of the car and Dean climbed in. “I’ll get you back.”

“What are you talking about? That comment was just payback for wanting me too sit in Sleazy the Clown’s lap. I say we’re even.”

Sam closed Dean’s door and then got in the driver’s seat. “Whatever, Dean.”

Dean leaned back in the seat and grinned. That had been fun.

He was still basking in his success at embarrassing his brother when he heard Sam swear.

“What’s wrong?”

“The car behind us had been parked next to our car at McDonald’s and I think they’re following us.”

“Demons?”

“That’d be my guess.” 

“Can you lose them?”

“I can try. Hold on.” 

The car swerved as Sam took a sharp turn. Dean fell to his right and hit his shoulder into the door. It was then that he realized that he’d forgotten to belt himself in. Dean reached to his left, grabbed the seatbelt and was just beginning to pull it over his lap when the other car rammed into the Impala.


	7. An Older Brother's Duty

Chapter Seven: An Older Brother’s Duty

Sam groaned in pain and tried desperately not to black out. His forehead had hit the steering wheel and he felt a thin stream of blood leaking down the left side of his face, but he couldn’t allow the head wound to get the better of him. The Impala had been rammed from behind, after being followed, and Sam knew that whoever had done it was probably after Dean. If he lost consciousness now, his brother would be gone or dead by the time he woke back up. That was not something that he could allow to happen.

With the thought of Dean, Sam turned his head to check on his brother only to find that the back seat was empty. No! How could they have gotten to Dean already? Sam was about to get out of the car to look around when something on the floor of the Impala caught his eye. It was the booster seat. And it was lying on the body of a small child.

“Dean!” Sam released his seatbelt and turned around completely, kneeling on the seat to get a better view of the back. His brother was lying crumpled on his side facing away from Sam, his right arm pinned under his body at an odd angle. Sam reached down and took the booster seat off of Dean to get a better look. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the boy was still breathing. He wanted to roll him over to see his face, but didn’t want to cause any further injury. Sam would have to get into the back to get a better look.

Sam wanted to kick himself. There was only one way that his brother could’ve ended up in this position. Dean hadn’t been wearing his seatbelt. Sam had let him into the car, then closed the door and drove off without double checking. Dean and him had both been so busy teasing each other and mock arguing that neither of them had paid any attention to the child’s safety. But the thing that really pissed Sam off was that Dean would’ve checked if the roles had been reversed. Dean always took care of Sam and made sure that he was protected. Dean had raised him and kept him as safe as possible for twenty-six years and Sam had failed his brother after just over twenty-four hours. But Sam just wasn’t use to being the big brother. Sure he’d watched Dean’s back over the years while hunting together, but he never had to worry about shopping for his brother, making sure he slept and ate correctly, and he certainly never had to check to see if Dean was wearing a seatbelt. The ‘big brother duties’ that came so easily to Dean were foreign to Sam. But he’d have to learn fast. He had to care for his brother until they could reverse his condition, and if it couldn’t be reversed then Sam was in it for the long haul.

Sam heard a car door slam and knew he had more immediate problems. Pulling out the demon killing knife, Sam opened the front door and got out. A man and a woman were approaching him, their eyes as black as night. Sam held the knife out in front of himself, ready to attack them when they were close enough. The woman eyed him warily. Sam was willing to bet that they figured the hunter would be unconscious and Dean would be theirs for the taking. 

“Hand your brother over.” The male demon ordered.

“Not going to happen.”

“Then we’ll have to take him by force. We have our orders. Dean Winchester will die.”

“Go back to Lucifer and tell him to forget it. Dean’s not going to die and I won’t ever say yes.” Both demons stepped closer. “I guess your corpses will have to send the message then.”

The man laughed. “Kill us and more will come after you. Now that we found you Winchesters, you’ll find that our kind is not easy to shake.”

“You found us both times by luck.” Sam shrugged. “What, you guys are sitting around rest areas and fast food joints in the hopes of stumbling into us?”

The somewhat guilty look on the female’s face confirmed his theory.

“It doesn’t matter how we found you.” The male demon insisted. “What matters is that we did and you are now at our mercy.”

“Wow. Just be glad that Dean’s not standing right here, because he’d mock your dumb clichés for sure.” Sam informed him.

Without another word, Sam ran at his attackers, hoping to catch them off guard. The man raised his hand, ready to throw Sam to the side, but it was too late. The knife was buried in his throat before he could act. Sam pulled it out and turned to do the same to the woman. But she was obviously the smart one, because she’d gotten back in her car and was backing away. That was fine with Sam. Every moment he wasted on them was another moment that he wasn’t with his brother. He’d kept an eye on the Impala to make sure that no one had tried to sneak in, but not knowing the extent of Dean’s condition was driving him insane.

Sam opened the back door and peered inside. Dean hadn’t moved at all, but he was still breathing and his breaths didn’t seem labored. Sam leaned closer to his brother. Dean’s right arm was obviously dislocated at the shoulder, but the rest of his body didn’t appear to be in bad condition. Sam knew there was a chance of internal bleeding or spinal injury and that moving him could cause more damage, but he didn’t have a choice. Dean had no ID for himself at this age, so a trip to the hospital was out of the question. Sam couldn’t risk child services getting involved. Very carefully, the older Winchester put his arms around the boy, gently cradling his body, and lifted him up. Then he placed Dean on the back seat. Dean’s nose was bleeding and the right side of the little hunter’s face was covered in bruises. A peak under the shirt revealed more contusions. But there was no sign of any broken bones. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. It could’ve been so much worse. He knew that he’d need to reset his brother’s arm immediately, which would probably be best to do while he was unconscious anyway. Sam held the tiny arm in his hand, placed his other hand on Dean’s shoulder and jerked the limb back into place.

“Ahhhhh!” Dean’s eyes flew open as he screeched in agony.

“Dean, it’s okay. You’re okay. I just had to fix your arm, but you’ll be fine. Try not to move.”

“Sammy?”

“I’m here, Dean. I’m here.”

“That kinda hurt.” Dean tried to joke, tears of pain running down his face.

“I’m sure it did.” 

“You’re bleeding. You need me to take a look at it?”

Sam had completely forgotten about his head wound. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not that bad.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. How are you feeling?”

Dean shrugged his good shoulder. “Arm hurts like a bitch, but I’ll live.”

“That sounds so wrong coming out of a four year old’s mouth.” Sam commented.

“You know what’d sound even worse?” Dean asked with a grin.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“Kill-joy.” He muttered. Sobering, Dean looked around. “So what happened?”

“The car behind us was being driven by demons. They rear ended us. I ganked one of them but the other escaped.”

“Is the Impala okay?”

“I didn’t check.” Sam admitted, knowing that Dean was going to go nuclear. He was right.

Dean sat up and tried to get out of the car. “Let me out, Sam. I gotta check on her.”

Not wanting to hurt Dean any further by trying to stop him, Sam backed up and let the boy hop out. Sam followed his brother to the back of the vehicle. 

The damage was minimal, a crunched up bumper and a busted taillight, but Dean looked stricken.

“Oh baby, what did they do to you?”

“Dean, it’ll be fine. Bobby can fix it up when we get to his place but we gotta get moving before anyone else shows up.”

“This is why she likes me more than you.” Dean pointed out but walked to the back door. Sam opened the trunk and pulled out a first aid kit. Then he went over to Dean. 

“I’m going to get this flannel shirt off of you. It’s a little tight in the upper arm and I don’t want there to be any problems with swelling.” His brother nodded and allowed Sam to slip the shirt off. Then Sam used some bandages to construct a makeshift sling. Once the arm was immobilized, Sam put the booster seat back in place. Next he picked his brother up and put him in the car seat. Dean grumbled a little, but they both knew he’d have had trouble climbing in on his own. Sam wet a piece of gauze with some bottled water and used it to gently wash the blood off the boy’s face. Once the seatbelt was secured (Sam wasn’t making that mistake twice), Sam closed the back door and got into the driver’s seat. Then they were back on the road.

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

Dean sat in the back seat trying not to cry out in pain every time the Impala went over a bump, hit a pothole, or took a particularly sharp turn. His shoulder was killing him, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to complain to Sam. It was his own damn fault for forgetting to put on his seatbelt in the first place. For such a bonehead move, he deserved a little pain. But the pain he was in was more than just a little. It seemed like this child-sized body came with a low threshold for pain. Awesome.

Dean reached into the bag of chocolate covered pretzels and tossed one into his mouth. He’d wanted the peanut M&Ms but Sam had called them a choking hazard or some such crap. Oh, well. The pretzels would do for now. It was almost evening and they hadn’t stopped to eat since McDonald’s. The last thing they needed was to encounter more fuglies. Besides, they’d be at Bobby’s soon. But he was really hungry and so Sam had offered him the candy. 

Chewing the chocolate treat, Dean looked out the window at the now familiar landscape. They were almost there. He felt a rush of excitement. Bobby would be able to fix this and then life could get back to normal. He wouldn’t be constantly drowning in emotions, he’d be able to get back to hunting, he’d be able to drive, and Sam wouldn’t have to take care of him anymore. He watched as his brother looked in the rear view mirror for the millionth time with that pathetic expression on his face. Dean knew that look. It meant that Sam was feeling bad for Dean and was worried about him. But that just wasn’t right. Dean was the older brother and worrying was his job. Dean took care of Sammy. That was just how the universe was supposed to work. 

Before he could get anymore depressed than he currently was, the car started to slow down. They had arrived at Singer Salvage. Sam had barely parked when Dean undid his belt and pushed open the door. As soon as his Spiderman sneakers hit the gravel (red lights flashing with the impact) Dean was walking quickly towards the house. He wanted to break into a run, but kids ran into their friends’ houses and Dean was not a kid. Sam caught up with him and the two brothers went up to the door and let themselves in.

“Bobby, we’re here!” Sam called.

“In here!” The older hunter responded.

Dean led the way into Bobby’s study. Bobby sat in his wheelchair at the desk with books and papers spread out in front of him, obviously hard at work. Dean just hoped that all that work was going to pay off.


	8. A Port in the Storm

Chapter Eight: A Port in the Storm

Bobby sat in his chair and turned yet another page in yet another book that wasn’t giving him the answers he needed. He knew the boys would be showing up soon and had really wanted to have a little more to give them when they arrived. He’d even left a message on Castiel’s phone saying that there was a problem with Dean and that they might need help, but he hadn’t gotten a response. Bobby knew that since the angel was currently cut off from much of Heaven’s power he would likely not be able to fix Dean. Hell, the guy couldn’t even heal Bobby. Nope. Not going there again. Bobby kept a strict rule not to sulk about his condition more than fifty times an hour and he’d already surpassed that amount. And damn it, but there his mind went, wandering again. He had to focus. Dean was counting on him. And speaking of the Winchesters…

Bobby heard the familiar rumble of the Impala followed by first one and then another car door open and shut. He took a deep breath and tried, for the millionth time, to imagine how exactly Dean was going to look. He hadn’t seen the older Winchester until the boy was about six and a half years old, so he was curious. Of course, according to Sam’s second phone call, Dean had still retained all of his memories, so he wouldn’t really be a four year old. Too bad. Bobby sometimes wished he could go back in time and somehow give that boy a real childhood. How Dean had been raised was the topic of much arguing, threats, and on one occasion an actual fist fight between John Winchester and himself. 

His front door opened and he heard Sam call out his name. 

“In here!” He hollered back, knowing they’d know where to look. Where the hell else would he be?

The first brother he saw was Sam. That boy was impossible to miss with his exceptional height. He’d once asked Dean how much damned Miracle Grow he’d slipped into his little brother’s food while he was growing up to get Sam that tall. 

Then Bobby dropped his line of sight down to Dean. And damn it all if it wasn’t one of the cutest sights ever. The boy stood there with messy blond hair, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with the words ‘Nothing but Trouble’ in large white letters across the chest and his tiny little sneakers were flashing red lights. The only thing that was out of place were the dark bruises on the right side of the boy’s face and the makeshift sling that held his arm in place. Bobby looked back up at Sam and saw that the now-older brother had a lump and a small cut on his forehead.

“And what the hell happened to you?”

“Hi to you too, Bobby.” Dean muttered. And damn but sarcasm should not ever be heard from such a childish voice. The little boy crossed the room and climbed up into one of the chairs across from Bobby. “So what you got for us?”

“Hi to you too, Dean.” Bobby shot back. 

Dean rolled his eyes.

“We ran into more demons.” Sam answered his earlier question.

“Technically, they ran into us” Dean corrected. He turned to Bobby. “They rear ended my car. We gotta go out in the morning and take a look at her.”

“You boys okay?” Bobby inquired, ignoring Dean’s obsession with the Impala.

“We’ll be fine.” Sam informed him. “So long as we stay away from any more of them.”

Bobby remembered his phone conversation from yesterday. First the attack at Wal-Mart and now this. “You think they’re gonna keep gunning for Dean?”

“He’s an easy target right now.”

“Dude, I’m sitting right here.” Dean was clearly annoyed.

“Yer brother’s right, Dean.”

“Whatever. Look, have you found a way to fix this?”

And there it was. The question that Bobby had been dreading.

“No.” With that one word, Dean’s whole face fell. The boy looked for a moment like he was going to cry and just what the hell was that about? Dean Winchester didn’t cry. Hell, the boy was so emotionally constipated that even upcoming apocalypses couldn’t get him to crack. At least not in front of people. Bobby knew that Dean tried to keep up his hard-ass appearance around others and that if he was going to fall apart, he’d do it in private. But here he was, tearing up from some bad news. Bobby didn’t know what was going on, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to upset the poor boy any further. “But I will. Look, some of the older lore does mention the edderkopp-skapning using magic as a defense to turn its attackers into children.”

“It wasn’t magic, Bobby. It was some sort of venom that it spit on Dean.” Sam informed him. 

“I know that, you idjit! But I did say this was old lore. Back then they thought takin’ a crap was the result of magic.” Dean snickered at that and Bobby was pleased to see that the kid had gotten a hold of his emotions once more. “But the end result’s the same. The attacker becomes a child and then the spider’s next meal. But there is some room for hope. One story tells of the inflicted person escaping. They remained a child until they visited a local witchdoctor who fixed ‘em.”

“So it can be reversed?” Dean was looking at him with hope in his eyes.

“Looks it. Now I’m figurin’ that witchdoctor whipped up some sorta antidote. I’m gonna keep lookin’ and callin’ my sources, see if I can’t find out what it was.”

“Thanks, Bobby.” Dean smiled at him. Looking at the boy, Bobby had a hard time believing that this was really Dean Winchester. He was too small. Too cute. Too innocent-looking. “Dude, I gotta go take a pee. Gigantor over here wouldn’t stop to let me do my business. Freakin’ Nazi.” Nope, he was definitely still Dean.

Bobby watched Dean leave the room, shoes blinking red with every step, and then turned to Sam.

“What’s wrong with yer brother?”

Sam looked confused. “You know what happened, Bobby.”

“Yeah, but if I didn’t know any better I’d say that Dean was about to start bawlin’ like an actual four year old when I told him I didn’t know how ta fix ‘im.”

“Yeah, about that… last night he had a nightmare. About Hell.”

“Not unusual for him.”

“No, but his reaction was. He went into full flashback mode and bit me when I tried to calm him down. Once he was out of it, I thought he was going to start crying but then he insisted that he was fine and locked himself in the bathroom. When he finally went back to bed, I could hear him whimpering in his sleep. That combined with the fact that he cried for nearly half an hour after the Wal-Mart demon incident leads me to believe that he’s suffering from the emotional state of a four year old as well as the obvious physical changes.”

“Ya think? He was in the room for only minutes and I coulda told ya that.” Bobby shook his head. While Dean refused to show weakness, Sam often refused to see it in his brother, because if Dean was okay then all was right with the world. Idjits, the both of ‘em.

“What do we do about it?”

“We treat him like he’s Dean. If we put on the kid gloves, it’s just gonna piss him off. But we gotta keep a closer eye on him and try not to upset those kiddy emotions he’s got.” Bobby felt bad for Dean. The crap he’d been through was too much even for an adult to handle, but how the hell was a four year old supposed to cope with all of that? 

Sam nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Well, it’s nice that it meets your standards.” Bobby’s words were laced with sarcasm but no malice.

Just then Dean poked his head into the room. “Dude, I’m gonna raid the fridge. Anybody want a drink?”

“Beer.” Bobby placed his order.

“Make that two.” Sam added.

“’kay.”

“And just two.” Bobby instructed. “You stick to the sodas. I ain’t gonna haul yer tiny ass to the hospital fer alcohol poisoning, ya got it?”

“I’m not an idiot, Bobby.”

“Coulda fooled me sometimes.”

“That’s just ‘cause your too easy to fool, old man.” And with that the boy was gone. Bobby shook his head as he got back to research. These were going to be interesting days.

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

Dean opened the door to the upstairs guestroom, trudged inside, and dropped his bag by the door. He was exhausted. He was pretty sure that he’d pushed his little body way further than it was meant to go. He’d tried to stay up longer to help with the research, but there was just no way that he could’ve remained upright any longer. The small hunter climbed up onto the bed, shoved the pocket knife that Sam had given to him under the pillow for safety, and kicked his shoes off. The barely audible thumps they made as they hit the floor were nowhere near the loud thuds that he was used to his boots making. Just another thing that wasn’t right. 

Speaking of things not being right, Dean knew that Sam had told Bobby about his emotional state while he was out of the room. He couldn’t help but to feel embarrassed that now the older hunter knew how weak he currently was. He wondered if Sam or Bobby would ever look at him the same way again. 

Trying to keep his mind off of depressing thoughts, Dean concentrated on what Bobby had informed him of. There was a cure for Dean’s condition. They just needed to figure out what it was. And Bobby always came through for them. This wasn’t going to be permanent after all. 

Dean smiled and closed his eyes, deciding to give his body what it needed. But as soon as the dark room disappeared, other images took its place. Images of pain and torture and torment. Dean’s eyes snapped open and he sat up. No. No way could he go through another night like that. But he needed rest. But he didn’t want the nightmares. Well, this just sucked out loud.

Music. Maybe if he listened to some Metallica he’d feel better. Dean hopped out of bed and walked over to his bag. He rummaged through it and pulled out his cassette player and headphones. Sammy kept insisting that he should give in and update his music collection, and Dean would… as soon as Hell froze over and Lucifer began giving ice-skating lessons to angels. 

Dean climbed back up on the bed and slipped the headphones on. Then he turned on the cassette player and cranked the volume up. He was in the middle of the forth song when he started to drift off. At first he welcomed the darkness but then he felt the hooks pierce his skin and with a muted cry he jolted back up. Dean sat in the bed, his heart beating way too fast and his breathing ragged. He waited and was relieved when neither Sam nor Bobby came in to check on him. He must’ve been quiet enough. But he had to admit that part of him wished that he wasn’t alone. 

Damn it! He hated this so much. It wasn’t fair. Not at all. Dean felt tears coming to his eyes once more and here alone in the dark he could finally let them out. Dean flopped down on his stomach and buried his face in the pillow to muffle the sounds as he gave in and let his tiny body shake with the force of his sobs. Dean had no clue as to how long he lay there crying, but as the emotions began to die down, the boy became aware of that feeling he always got when someone was watching him. Great. He thought. Now Sammy knows what a mess I am. But then he heard Sam’s voice and it was coming from downstairs as he was asking Bobby if he had a particular book. 

Dean sat up in the bed, grabbed his knife, and turned to face the shadowy figure that stood in the dark room with the small child.


	9. Here For You

Chapter Nine: Here For You

Dean held the pocket knife out in front of himself, wishing that he had more than a tiny blade for protection against the threat that now stood in his room. But he’d killed far worse with far less. The figure reached a hand up to the side and Dean braced himself for whatever attack was to come. There was a click and then the lights flicked on. Not expecting it, the sudden brightness left Dean blinking to clear his vision. The figure stepped closer and the little hunter was about to shout to Sam for help and then jump whatever fugly was approaching the bed when his eyesight returned to working order.

“Damn it all, Cas! What the hell? You trying to get stabbed?”

“Dean? Is that really you?”

Oh, yeah. The whole age thing. “’Course it’s me Cas. You’re the angel, shouldn’t you be able to tell?”

“Yes. It’s just that your appearance is disconcerting.”

“You know what else is ‘disconcerting’? Someone creeping around my dark room in the middle of the night trying to scare the crap outta me!” Dean hissed at him, trying his best to keep his voice down so as not to alert Sam or Bobby. 

“It wasn’t my intention to scare you, Dean.”

“Yeah, I know. But next time just say ‘Hi Dean, it’s Cas’ or ‘It’s me. I’m not some demon here to kill you’ or even ‘I come in peace’, alright?”

Cas nodded his head. “I’ll announce my presence better next time.”

“Cool. Now that that’s taken care of, what are you doing here?”

“Bobby called.”

“He told you about this?”

“No. He left a message that said you had a little problem.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Did he use those words? A ‘little’ problem?”

“Yes. And I now see that it was an attempt at humor.”

“A pathetic one.” Dean commented. “So you got the message and came right over?”

“No. I was following up a lead elsewhere and was going to come when I finished but then I got word that the other angels had redoubled their efforts to find you. It seems word has gotten out that you are currently vulnerable.”

“They know about this?”

“No. They are only aware that the demons have deemed you to be helpless at the moment.”

“Well, there goes my rep.”

“How did this happen?” Cas moved closer to the bed, invading Dean’s personal space as usual. Dean didn’t mention it since having the angel around was making him feel a little better.

“Some spider thing puked on me.”

“The edderkopp-skapning.”

“You know those freaks?”

“I have never encountered one, no. But they are a very old species.”

“Do you know how to fix me?” Dean inquired.

“No. If I had my full powers, I could do it with but a thought. As it is there is nothing I can do.”

“Bobby thinks there’s an antidote.”

“It seems probable.” Cas stared at Dean, making the boy feel slightly uncomfortable.

“Hey, take a picture. It’ll last longer.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re staring.”

“Sorry, it is just… you make an extremely cute child.”

“Okay… uh Cas, you know that it’s not acceptable for a guy to show up in a kid’s room in the middle of the night and say things like that, right?”

Cas tilted his head. “It was a compliment, Dean.”

“Cas, guys don’t like other guys calling them cute.”

“Understood.” Cas responded, although Dean had a hunch that he was just giving in to move the conversation along. And that was just fine with Dean.

“So, I take it the others don’t know you’re here?”

“No. I appeared just outside the room they are in and upon noticing your absence, I came looking for you.”

“Well, you should probably go let them know you’re hanging around before they hear someone up here with me and try to kill you.”

“Like you were going to?”

“Exactly.”

“Will you be alright?” The angel asked him.

“Sure. I’ll just get back to sleeping like I was doing before you tried to meet the pointy end of my knife.”

Cas looked confused. “But Dean, you were not sleeping when I entered the room. You were crying.”

Dean’s face went red with embarrassment. “No, I wasn’t.”

The angel tilted his head to the side. “You needn’t feel embarrassed. I have witnessed many humans cry over far less than what you have been through.”

“I don’t cry, Cas.”

“Perhaps if you cried more you wouldn’t be so upset all the time.”

“Dude, just drop it.”

“Is it the nightmares?”

“I said drop… wait, how do you know about that?”

Cas looked at Dean like he was extremely slow. “I pulled you from Hell, Dean. You must surely dream of that, especially now when your emotional state is compromised.” 

There was a brief moment of silence. The Dean admitted in almost a whisper. “Yeah, it’s the nightmares.”

His friend sat down on the bed next to him. “I understand that you don’t wish to appear weak in front of your brother or Bobby. They depend on you and you don’t want to let them down. But you’re not weak, Dean. And you can talk to me.”

Dean bit his lip, feeling his eyes filling with tears. And there went those damned waterworks again. “Look, Cas… it’s just that… I don’t need help, you know. I can handle this.”

“I know you can. But in your current state it will cause you harm to do so. You cannot hold those emotions in without eventually breaking and then what help will you be to your friends?”

“So what’re you saying? That I should just cry on your shoulder?”

“What I am saying Dean is that you were there for me not so long ago when no one else was and likewise I am here for you. And if you needed to act your current age around me for a moment, I would slip into the role of a guardian angel to comfort you and forget all about it after you were properly restored.”

Dean had no clue as to how to respond to that. The adult portion of his mind objected to the very idea, while his childish side wanted him to crawl into the angel’s lap and go to sleep. He settled for a comfortable spot in the middle. “Thanks Cas.”

They both sat there for a moment before Dean motioned towards his pillow. “I really do gotta get some shuteye.”

“Lie back and I will assist you.”

“If you start singing me lullabies, I’ll kick your ass.”

“That was not my plan. I can put you into a dreamless sleep. It will only last a few hours before your subconscious takes a hold and you will once more experience nightmares, but I believe it is better than nothing. And I will be here when you wake up.”

Dean felt his lips pull up into a smile. “Cas, that’s the best offer I’ve gotten in a while.” And with that, the boy leaned back to rest his head on the pillow and closed his eyes.

“Goodnight, Dean.” He heard Cas say. Then he felt two fingers press against his forehead and then there was nothing.

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

Castiel sat watching Dean sleep for a while. He could hardly believe that that small child was actually the same man he had fought side by side with. That was not to say that he couldn’t tell that this was Dean. The bravery, strength, wit, and stubbornness were all still present… not to mention his colorful way of speaking. Castiel knew that the angels and demons that now thought the hunter to be helpless were in for a surprise, but he also feared for Dean. Not only did he have to contend with enemies from all sides, but his own mind was trying to destroy him. Dean was fighting against his own body, unwilling to give the four year old aspects of himself what was needed. And there was no four year old on earth who had to contend with the memories that the hunter possessed. Castiel prayed that the boy would be restored soon, before the weight of what he carried crushed his child-like mind.

Castiel vowed to do everything in his power to help the hunter through this rather unusual ordeal. Dean Winchester could not be lost, not after everything Castiel had given up to follow him. The angel knew that he was on the right path, even if it went against all the others in Heaven. God had brought him back so that he could continue in his mission and Dean was a very important part of that. Besides, the man had become a friend, perhaps the only friend Castiel still had. 

And the best way to help make sure that Dean made it through this experience intact was to make it as short as possible. According to the young hunter, his brother and friend were already working on it. Castiel looked down at the sleeping child. He’d be alright for a while longer and in that time, the angel could assist the others. 

A moment later, Castiel appeared in Bobby Singer’s study. 

“What the hell?” Bobby almost dropped the beer he was holding. Sam spun around to see what all the excitement was about.

“Hello.” Castiel greeted them.

“Took ya long enough ta show.” Bobby growled out.

Castiel chose to ignore the comment. He had discovered long ago that if he allowed himself to get involved in every argument the Winchesters and Bobby tried to start that he would spend all his time verbally sparring with them. 

“I have information. Zachariah is aware that Dean is vulnerable. I believe he plans on making a move soon.”

“You know about what happened to Dean?” Sam looked confused. Obviously Bobby had informed the younger hunter that he hadn’t given the angel any details.

“Yes. I was just speaking with Dean.” He turned to Bobby. “A little warning on what I would find here would’ve been useful.”

“Didn’t know how much to say over the phone.”

“You feared that myself or my cellular devise may have become compromised.”

“The thought crossed my mind.”

Castiel was slightly hurt that Bobby thought he might do something that would harm Dean, but he understood the man’s protectiveness.

“You saw Dean?” Sam asked. “How is he?”

“He is sleeping. But I’m afraid that angels and demons are the least of his problems at the moment.”

“Somethin’ else after him that we should know about?” Bobby inquired.

“The strain of his memories and fears are too much for his current mind and body. It is only a matter of time before he breaks and not even restoring his body would fix his mind then.”

“He’s had some troubles.” Sam admitted. “He had really awful nightmares and has even broke down and cried. I figured it was the emotions that came with the age change that was doing it to him.”

“It is.” Castiel confirmed. “Children lack the emotional maturity to deal with problems. That is why they cry. It purges their bodies and renews them. Dean tries to act like an adult and is denying his body and mind what it needs.”

“Not all kids cry easy though.” Bobby spoke up. “I met Dean when he was six and he had a good handle at his emotions already.”

“That may be true, but he is now four. Besides, when you first met him he hadn’t yet been to Hell.”

“What can we do for him?” Sam asked.

“Find the antidote as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, ‘cause we were planning on dragging our asses before you spoke up.” Bobby muttered.

Castiel ignored him again. “And offer him any comfort he needs.”

“Dean doesn’t want us treating him like a child.” Sam pointed out.

“It is no longer about what he wants, it’s about what he needs. Do not push him to cry or accept comfort, but don’t fool yourselves into thinking that it is not something he needs.”

Sam nodded, looking worried. Castiel knew that this was not an easy situation for any of them. It was actually quite awkward for himself as well. He was not an expert on human emotions and was trying to instruct others on how to proceed with a four year old. He prayed he was correct with his assessment and wouldn’t somehow wind up making things even worse for Dean. 

“Well, if we’re done with the handholdin’ portion of this discussion, I think I may have some idea on where to look for a way to fix this mess.” Bobby announced.

“You found something?” Sam walked over to stand behind Bobby and looked over his shoulder.

“Yes and no. I think I know what’ll fix him, but I have to look for the exact text.”

“Well what do you…”

Any further conversation was cut off as a terrified scream rang out from upstairs.


	10. Another Rough Night

Chapter Ten: Another Rough Night

Dean wasn’t on the rack. You’d think that in Hell getting off of the rack and away from the demon that consistently tortured you would be a good thing but it just meant that they were getting creative. And creative in the pit was never a good thing. Wherever Dean was now, it was pitch black. He could feel dirt under his bare feet but there were no walls anywhere within his reach. Dean was dressed in just a pair of jeans but clothes didn’t really matter in Hell since they were usually torn to shreds within a matter of moments. He wondered how long he’d have to wait before whatever was going to happen happened. Then he heard something. A small skittering noise coming from in front of him. Dean tensed but then some kind of bug ran across his foot. He let out a small laugh. He was in a place of never ending torment and had gotten scared of a tiny bug. Then he stopped and thought for a moment. What was a bug doing in Hell anyway? His answer came seconds later and it wasn’t one he liked. A huge mass of insects swarmed up over him, crawling on his skin, under his jeans, in his hair. Dean tried to swat them off of him, but for every bug that fell off, ten more took its place. Then they started to bite. No, bite wasn’t even the right word. They were chewing on his flesh, eating him alive. Dean let out a scream and they rushed into his mouth as others crawled into his ears and nose. Those ones began eating him from the inside. Dean needed to get them off of him and out of him. He started clawing at his skin, trying to knock them off of him and rip them out of his flesh. But more kept coming. He was pretty sure they’d eaten his eyes but he couldn’t see in here in the first place so it didn’t seem to matter that much. If he were alive the insects would’ve killed him by now but as it was he knew that he’d stay here until there was nothing left of him. Dean’s legs gave out as most of his muscle had been eaten away and he fell to the dirt floor. And now there were even more on him. They crawled over him and inside of him and he didn’t want this to last any longer. Dean continued to scratch and claw at his own skin as he let out a gurgled cry of agony and fear. It came out much louder than he thought it would. 

And then someone was grabbing him. He tried to pull away and the person held on tighter.

“Dean, you must calm down.” 

Dean stopped his struggles. He knew that voice. It was Cas. The angel had pulled him out of Hell and Dean must’ve somehow ended up back there because here was Castiel yet again rescuing him. Dean grabbed onto the angel as tight as he could.

“Cas, please get me out of here!” 

“Out of here?”

“I don’t remember how I got back in Hell Cas, but please save me.” Dean didn’t even care that he was begging. He couldn’t go back. Tears ran down his face as he clung to the angel, dimly aware that Cas was much bigger than usual.

“You aren’t in Hell, Dean. This is Bobby’s house. You were having a nightmare.”

Suddenly Dean heard a door open and the lights flicked on. 

“Dean!” Sam’s voice called his name out in panic.

“He’s alright. It was just a nightmare.”

“No.” Dean insisted. “I wasn’t dreaming. I couldn’t’ve been ‘cause if it was just a dream, then why does it still hurt?”

“You’re in pain?” Cas asked.

Dean nodded. The angel’s hands gripped his upper arms gently but firmly and moved him back. Dean looked up and saw Cas’s eyes widen. Sam obviously saw the same thing.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Dean looked down at his arms that were much too small to be his own, and memories of the past days returned to him. But the thing that really shocked him was the condition that his tiny arms were in. There were deep fingernail marks running from elbow to wrist, some oozing blood.

“Is that what hurts?” Cas inquired.

“Oh god, Dean.” Sam gasped as he reached the side of the bed.

Dean nodded in response to Castiel’s question. Then he added. “My chest hurts too.” 

The angel pulled the boy’s shirt off to reveal the same damage on his chest and belly. As if in a trance, Dean looked down at his fingernails. There was blood under them. He had torn himself apart while he’d been caught up in that nightmare. Dean bit his lip anxiously and realized that he was still crying. The very young hunter tried to calm himself down, but it seemed an impossible task. 

“Is everything alright up there?” Bobby’s voice called.

“Nightmare.” Sam responded. Then he turned back to his brother. “I’m going to go get the first aid kit, okay Dean.”

Dean didn’t trust his voice not to break and further embarrass himself, so he just nodded. Once Sam had left, Dean looked up at Cas.

“I don’t want to sleep any more.”

“You only slept a couple of hours. It’s not enough.”

“Dude, I can’t keep going through this! They are worse than ever now!”

“It’s because…”

“Yeah, the whole age thing. I know. But I don’t want to dream like that anymore.”

“Then I will put you back to sleep and wake you after the first two hours before you begin to dream. Once you have woken, I will put you back under. It is far from perfect and not a permanent solution, but it will get you through this night.”

“I guess.” Dean was terrified of going back to sleep, but he knew that his body needed it. He felt the exhaustion beginning to smother him already and with so many enemies looking to take advantage of his situation, he’d need to be as sharp as possible. 

Just then Sam reentered the room holding Bobby’s first aid kit. Dean sat through the process of having the fingernail marks cleaned out and ointment and bandages put on the deepest ones. When his brother was done, he stepped back.

“Well, I’m not taking you out to any more stores. Between the bruises and the bandages, you look like a severely abused child.”

“But I’m still more attractive than you.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Hey, I can’t help it if the chicks are into me more than you.”

“Newsflash, Dean. You’re four years old. You haven’t even hit puberty yet.”

Dean shrugged. “Neither have you.”

Sam shook his head. “And to think that I was beginning to feel sorry for you.”

“Well, you don’t have to. I’m fine. Now just get your gargantuan butt in your own bed and let me get some shuteye, okay?”

“Are you going to be alright?”

“He’ll be fine.” Cas assured him. “I will keep watch.”

Sam looked down at Dean with concern written all over his features. Dean wished that he’d just go back to the teasing banter of moments before. It killed him a little to see his baby brother worrying over him. Dean should be the protector, not Sam. But obviously Dean had screwed up that job and now he was unable to protect Sammy, but the least he could do was try to be as light a burden as possible.

“Seriously Sammy, I’m good. Go. Sleep.”

“If you’re sure.” Sam leaned over and hugged Dean. The boy squirmed a little in the embrace. Then his brother let go and left the room, with one last ‘Goodnight’ thrown over his shoulder on the way out the door.

“Are you ready?” Cas asked.

Dean made himself comfortable in the nest of pillows and blankets on the bed. Then he swallowed his fears and nodded. Cas reached forward and laid his fingers once more on the child’s head and Dean was back asleep.

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

The next morning, Bobby woke to the smells of coffee, bacon, and eggs. That was one good thing about having the Winchesters stay with him sometimes. If he woke up late, breakfast was always waiting for him. Of course, had he not stayed up most of the night researching for the boys then it was likely that he wouldn’t have slept so long. Either way, he was going to enjoy the meal before he brought up what he’d learned last night to the boys. It was a good news, bad news kind of a deal and he wasn’t sure how they’d take it. And the last thing he wanted to do was to upset Dean even further. The kid really needed a break. 

Bobby rolled his damned wheelchair into the kitchen, expecting to see Sam standing at the stove. But that was not the case.

“What the hell do you think yer doin’ Dean?!” 

Dean spun around on the makeshift stepstool of piled books and fell to the floor, dropping the frying pan that he’d been clutching in his small hand. There was a loud thud and a clatter, followed by a cry of pain. The boy sat on the flood amongst the now scattered books glaring up at Bobby.

“Dude, what the hell! Are you trying to kill me? Or did you just feel like ruining breakfast?” Dean got to his feet and picked up the pan that had miraculously landed in such a way that the eggs had not spilled out all over the kitchen floor.

“What’re you doing using the stove.”

“Cooking. That’s what stoves are for.”

“Four year olds don’t cook, Dean.” 

“Then it’s a good thing that I’m not actually a four year old.”

“Yeah, you are. And ya coulda burned yerself or fallen and split yer thick skull open.”

“I was doing just fine ‘til you tried to give me a heart attack!”

“What’s going on?” Sam rushed into the room.

“Bobby is upset that your brother was cooking.”

Bobby turned his head to see that Castiel had been standing there the whole time.

“And why didn’t you stop him?” Bobby growled at the angel.

“Dean was certain that he could make breakfast without any problems.”

“See! Cas trusts me.”

“It’s not about trust, boy. It’s ‘bout me not wanting you getting hurt.”

“C’mon, I’ve been cooking for Sammy since I was just a little bigger than this. I know what I’m doing.”

Bobby sighed. “I know, Dean. It’s just… you never had to cook when yer daddy dropped you boys off here. I see you now and I just kinda slip back into ‘Uncle Bobby’ mode. I always knew you could take care of yerself, I just enjoyed doing a little bit of it for ya.”

There was silence in the room for a moment. 

“Thanks for that, Uncle Bobby.” Dean smiled. “Breakfast’s ready, though.”

“Well, let’s get the table set, then.”

After breakfast, they all gathered in the study.

“I found the cure.” Bobby announced.

“Really?” Dean exclaimed.

“Yeah. It’s a general antidote that works on most cases of supernatural poisonings.”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing.” Sam commented.

“Well, there is. And I got all but one of the ingredients.”

“That’s awesome, man!” Dean looked ready to start jumping up and down in excitement. But Sam must’ve seen something in Bobby’s expression.

“What’s the catch?”

“The last ingredient changes with each different case. The antidote needs something added to it to alter the contents into the specialized formula. It needs a sample of whatever poisoned the victim.”

“Wait,” Dean spoke up. “You mean…”

“We need to get a sample of the edderkopp-skapning’s venom.”


	11. Stay Outta Trouble

Chapter Eleven: Stay Outta Trouble

Dean sat for a moment, absorbing what Bobby had just said. They’d need to somehow get the venom of an edderkopp-skapning to complete the antidote he needed. How the hell were they supposed to do that? There was no way the others would let him help with the hunt and he wasn’t going to let Sam do it on his own. Cas might be able to go with his brother and lend a hand, but then Bobby and him would be left alone and if trouble showed up they’d be royally screwed. There had to be some other way…

“Would a sample of my blood work?” Dean asked suddenly. “I got the venom in me.”

“Good idea, but no.” Bobby replied. “This ingredient is to let the potion adjust to what it has to eradicate. I don’t think you want it to target both the venom and yer own DNA.”

“Dean’s clothes!” Sam exclaimed. “They had the stuff all over them. I left them back in the cave, but I can go get them.”

“It has to be a fresh sample.” Bobby shot Sam’s idea down as well. “You’ll need to use a needle to extract it straight from the creature’s venom sacks.”

“And where are those?”

“In its mouth.”

“This just keeps getting better and better.” Dean muttered.

“It’ll be fine.” Sam insisted. “We track it down, I go kill the thing and get the venom.”

“Yeah, ‘cause killing it proved to be so easy last time.” Dean pointed out.

“Ya can’t kill it first, ya idjit. Its weakness is fire. How ya gonna extract fresh venom from a brick of charcoal?”

The room was silent for a moment while everyone contemplated the best course of action.

“I guess then I’ll have to somehow stun it long enough to get what we need.”

“One more bit of bad news.” Bobby announced.

“More?” Dean asked. “You’re really killing my chances at a good mood here.”

Bobby ignored him and continued. “In all the cases I could find where this all-purpose antidote was used, there was a time limit. After a certain point the venom is completely integrated in the victim’s body and the cure becomes useless.”

“How long do we have?” Sam inquired.

“‘Bout another thirty-six hours.”

“And after that?” Dean asked.

“Yer gonna hafta enroll in kindergarten all over again.”

“It’ll be permanent?” Sam questioned.

“Yep.”

“Dude, no way am I going through school again.”

“You have a GED.” Sam shrugged. “Kindergarten wouldn’t be all that challenging for you.”

Dean glared at him. He knew his brother was trying to lighten the mood, but the thought of having to grow up all over again was causing him to panic. He couldn’t stay like this. Small, helpless, nothing but a burden to those he loved. No freakin’ way.

“Then we head out now.” He declared.

“You’re not going, Dean.”

“Like hell I’m not. What if you find Eddy, get the venom, but make it back here too late? It’ll save time if I’m with you.”

“He’s got a point.” Bobby agreed. 

“No.” Sam shook his head.

“I will accompany you to assure his safety.” Cas offered.

“Great.” Dean exclaimed. “So, we’re good to go.”

“Not yet yer not. I still gotta get the rest of the ingredients whipped up and track yer spider friend down.”

“What can we do to help?” The now older Winchester asked.

“Check the computer for anything that’ll tip us off on the creature’s whereabouts.”

“Got it.” Sam declared, moving to go get his laptop.

“Castiel, yer with me. I may need an extra hand.” Bobby moved into the kitchen, presumably to start work on the antidote.

“What can I do?” Dean called after him.

“Stay outta trouble fer once.” Was the only response he got.

Dean hopped off the chair and kicked the desk in frustration. He wasn’t thrilled with the dismissal he’d gotten. He knew that there wasn’t much he could contribute, but he hated the idea of being useless. He just needed to do something. Anything. Of course there was always something that made him feel better and she did currently need his help. 

Dean pulled his black flannel shirt on over his Batman tee and slipped out the front door quietly, knowing that the others would object to his plan to repair his baby by himself. Replacing a taillight was a piece of cake though. Even a real four year old could probably handle it. And he knew where Bobby kept the spare parts for the Impala. The real question was whether he’d need to replace the bumper or if he could pound the dents out. With the pent up energy and emotions that were running through him, he figure he’d be able bang it back in shape no problem.

Replacing the taillight turned out to be much more of a challenge than he’d originally figured. His tiny fingers had a difficult time grasping objects and he lacked the strength he’d needed. But Dean was determined and finally that job was complete. He decided to take a break before trying to fix the bumper. He was ready to go back inside when he heard someone creeping around behind a pile of junk not far from him. Dean looked to the front door of Bobby’s house and knew that he’d never make it in time if the person out here meant him harm. His best option was to hide and hope that he hadn’t been spotted yet.

The young hunter dropped to the ground and crawled under the Impala. If the uninvited visitor didn’t know he was out here and wasn’t looking too hard for him then he’d be fine. Very quietly, Dean reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Propping himself up on his elbows, the boy got ready to text an SOS to his brother. Unfortunately, he hadn’t remembered to plug in the device last night and the screen failed to light up. The battery was dead. Just like he’d be if he didn’t get some help…

Just then, a pair of boots came into view. Then another. Dean placed the useless phone on the ground and put his knees and hands into position to crawl out of there and flee if it came to that. The feet stopped right near his hiding spot.

“You said he was out here.” A hushed voice accused.

“He was. I saw him. The kid must’ve gone back inside.”

“Well, we can’t exactly go strolling into that place. Not with all the protections in there.”

Ah, demons.

“He’ll be back out. This piece of old crap isn’t completely fixed yet.”

Okay, now they were dead. No one talked about the Impala like that and got away with it. Of course their demise would have to wait until Dean had backup, but it would happen. 

“Maybe he heard us and that’s why he went inside. If so, he won’t be coming back out alone.”

“No, if he heard us, we’d have heard him go back in. Or saw him… You know something? I don’t think he went back in at all. There’s a good chance he’s still out here somewhere.”

Dean felt his heart start to beat wildly. He was screwed. He tried desperately to calm himself down. They hadn’t yet found him. There was no reason to panic.

“Check around the car. I’ll start checking these other piles of junk.”

Okay, now there was a reason to panic. Dean saw one pair of boots start to move off while the other got in position to check under the Impala. Dean pulled out his knife and stabbed the demon in the leg. There was a scream of pain, but Dean ignored it as he scrambled out from under the vehicle and took off running towards the house.

“Sam! Sam, get out here now!” Dean called as loud as he possibly could.

The boy was only halfway to his destination when an arm wrapped itself around his neck. Dean was pulled off his feet. He hung with his legs dangling in the air as he fought and struggled with all his might. It was no use.

“And now the mighty Dean Winchester meets his end.” The demon hissed in his ear.

Dean would’ve snapped back with a brilliant comeback if his air supply wasn’t completely cut off.

“Drop him!” A voice ordered.

Dean looked over to see Sam coming towards him. Cas was right behind the hunter while Bobby sat in his wheelchair on the porch, shotgun in hand. The cavalry had come. It was both a relief and a source of humiliation. Dean was getting tired of having to have his tiny little ass saved constantly. 

“Come any closer and we will kill him.”

From the corner of his eye Dean saw the other demon step up next to him.

“Let him go or I will kill you.” Sam countered.

“You wouldn’t dare do anything to endanger his life.”

“You’re planning on killing him no matter what I do, so I may as well take you out.”

Dean was beginning to feel lightheaded from the lack of air. He really wished that Cas was up to full power and could just smite the crap out of the two demons. Of course, if the angel was at complete strength then Dean would’ve been fixed already and none of this would be happening right now…

“You know what? You’re right. We are going to kill him.” Dean felt the arm tighten even further and realized that this was going to be the end. 

Suddenly, he felt his attacker shake and then heard a brief scream. Dean was released and dropped down onto the ground. He hit the gravel hard but tried to ignore the pain so that he could figure out what happened. A quick look up revealed that none of his friends had moved from their positions. But they were staring at something behind Dean. The small hunter rolled into a sitting position to see what was there. Looming over him was a very familiar and very smug looking figure.

“Hey, Zack.” Dean gasped out through his still aching throat.

“Hello, Dean.” Zachariah replied.

“Well, I’d thank you for the rescue, but I somehow doubt that you saved me out of the kindness of that shriveled up husk that passes as your heart.”

“And you’d be right.” 

Dean heard Sam and Cas running towards him but at that moment, the not so heavenly angel reached out his pudgy fingers and touched Dean’s head. Everything went dark.


	12. Kidnapped

Chapter Twelve: Kidnapped

Sam stood staring at the spot where his brother had sat just seconds ago, before Zachariah had touched him and made them both disappear to some unknown location. Some place where they had very little chance of finding him. 

“Damn!” Sam shouted as he kicked at the loose gravel as hard as he could, launching it through the air. He was pissed. He was pissed at Zachariah for kidnapping his brother. Pissed at Dean for sneaking out of the house and putting himself in danger. But mostly he was pissed at himself for not keeping an eye on the small child. He’d been so absorbed in his research that he hadn’t even thought about what Dean could be doing. He should’ve known that his brother wouldn’t have been able to quietly sit in the house for hours. But once again Sam had assumed the role of the little brother and left Dean to take care of himself while he did what he wanted. It was the family dynamic he’d grown up with and adjusting to caring for his brother was difficult. He could only imagine the challenges Dean had faced while raising him all those years. Sam wasn’t quite sure how he was going to manage if they couldn’t reverse his brother’s condition. But right now the most important thing was going to be finding his brother.

“Sam, get yer ass back inside before somethin’ else shows up.”

Bobby’s voice jerked Sam out of his thoughts. He turned to face the older hunter and saw that Bobby was gesturing for him to come. With a sigh Sam walked slowly back towards the porch, feeling his anger and frustration build with every step. 

When he reached his wheelchair bound friend he stopped and punched the wall. “What are we going to do now, Bobby? Even if we get this antidote put together in time, we don’t have a Dean to give it to.”

“Look, I understand yer frustration, but standin’ on my porch whining ‘bout it ain’t gonna help no one. We gotta keep our heads.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I should’ve been keeping an eye on him and now he’s gone. We don’t even know what Zachariah is doing to him.”

“He will probably try to offer to fix Dean in exchange for him saying yes to being Michael’s vessel.” Cas spoke up. “When Dean refuses, he will then try to threaten and torture the wanted answer from your brother.”

“Wow Cas, thanks.” Sam snapped at the angel. “That makes me feel so much better.”

“I was only trying to answer your question, not provide comfort.”

“I’m so glad that you’re a warrior and not a guardian angel, because you suck at dealing with humans.”

“I thought I did rather well with your brother. Perhaps it’s just you that…”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Bobby cut in. “Sam, Castiel was only trying to help.” Then he turned on the angel. “And you need to stop channeling Dean by arguing with Sam. It’s not helping anyone.”

“You are right of course.” Cas tilted his head down as if he were a scolded child.

“Sorry, Bobby.” Sam knew he’d just picked a fight with Castiel to relieve the pent up anger he was feeling. 

“Good. Now that I don’t gotta worry ‘bout the two of you getting into a wrestling match, how ‘bout I tell you our next move?”

“Sounds good.”

“Then let’s go on in and we’ll discuss it.”

Once they were all seated in Bobby’s study, the older hunter cleared his throat to signal the beginning of the talk.

“Sam, we got the antidote almost completed. I got two more things to add and then it’ll just need the venom. You’ll proceed as we planned. Find the edderkopp-skapning, get the venom, and complete the antidote. Meanwhile, Castiel over here will find Dean. And before you protest, this makes the most sense. You have tracked and fought this thing before and Cas can find his angel buddies easier than you can.”

“Zachariah is not my ‘buddy’? We are far from being friends.”

“It’s a figure of speech, Cas.” Sam informed him. “And I agree with your plan Bobby. As much as I’d like to be the one out looking for Dean, this is the best arrangement.”

Bobby nodded. “’Course it is. And I’ll be here, placing calls and looking for leads for the both of ya. We all keep in touch.”

“Understood.” Cas nodded and then vanished.

“Get back to yer research, boy.” Bobby ordered as he rolled his chair out of the room. 

Sam sat back down at the computer. He hadn’t had too much luck yet. He was trying to compare missing children reports with outbreaks of spiders. The edderkopp-skapning was known to lay many eggs very frequently, but when the babies hatched they were merely the size of slightly large spiders and almost none survived to maturity. It was guessed that only one edderkopp-skapning hatchling became an adult every decade or so. They were a dying species. At that moment Sam wished that they had become extinct long ago.

By the time Bobby had finished his part if the antidote, Sam had found what he hoped was the spider-creature’s path. It wasn’t very far from where the brothers had battled it the first time. It appeared to have just crossed the border into Utah, which would add a couple more hours to the drive. Which meant that if he had any hope of pulling this off in time he’d have to leave very soon.

Sam stood and started packing up his laptop. 

“Here it is.” Bobby handed Sam a metal thermos. 

“Thanks Bobby.”

“Once you got the thing down, you gotta extract the venom from the sack in its mouth with this.” He handed Sam a large syringe. “Be careful not to let it spray the stuff at ya. It don’t produce much at a time and takes a while to reload so if the venom is wasted it’ll take hours before you got another shot.”

Sam pocked the syringe. “So that’s why it didn’t spray me after it got Dean. It was all out of venom.”

“Yep. Once you collected it, add it to the mixture and shake well.”

“Does Dean have to drink this?”

“Nope. Just give it to him the same way he was poisoned and it should work.”

“Should?”

“Will.”

Sam sighed. “Thanks for everything Bobby.”

“Just get our boy back to normal. Well, ‘Dean normal’ anyway.”

“That’s the plan.”

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

Dean blinked his eyes and let out a soft groan. He immediately knew that he’d been transported somewhere and that his taxi service had been rough with him. He got to his hands and knees and lifted his head to look around. He was in some kind of warehouse with boarded up windows. The large area was filled with old wooden crates that had long ago been abandoned. Dean got to his feet and walked slowly around the cold room, listening to the tiny echoes his shoes made on the concrete floor. When he came to a door he tried to open it although he had a feeling it would be pointless. He was right. It was locked. With a sigh, the boy turned around and came face to face with Zachariah. Well, maybe not face to face. With his new lack of height, it was more like face to stomach. 

“Dude, what the hell! Kidnapping children is a serious offence, asshole.”

“You should be thanking me, Dean. I saved your life.”

“Yeah well, I actually think I preferred the demons.”

“Big words from such a little boy.”

“Small brain from such a fat piece of crap.” Dean shot back. 

“I’d watch my tone if I were you.”

“Well then I guess it’s a good thing you’re not me.” Dean tried to act casual about their discussion, but in reality he was terrified. He knew that this angel had been a formidable opponent when Dean himself had been an adult. And right now this was the very definition of an unfair fight. But there was no way in hell he’d let Zachariah in on how scared he was. “So, I’m assuming you didn’t bring me here for milk and cookies. Although a snack would be rather nice.”

The angel gave him a rather creepy smile. “No, you’re not here for refreshments. You’re here so that I can help you with your ‘little’ problem.”

“The ‘little problem’ joke’s already been told and it wasn’t that funny the first time around. Less so coming from you.”

“In any case, I can restore you to your proper age.”

“And the catch is?” Dean asked although he already had a feeling what the answer would be.

“You agree to be Michael’s vessel.”

“Let me think about that… nope, sorry the answer’s still no.”

“I’m thinking that you might want to change your answer.”

“You’re right. I do want to change it. My new answer is ‘go screw yourself’.”

“You’re making a huge mistake. How long do you really think you’ll last if you remain a small child?”

“Longer than you’ll last once I get my hands on something to end you.”

“I’m trying to help you.”

“No, you’re trying to get a meatsuit for your buddy. And that’s not going to happen. Ever.”

“Why keep this up, Dean? Saying yes is in your best interest.”

“Right, ‘cause you care so much about me. Look Zack, let’s just drop the whole ‘I’m here to help you’ crap. You want to fix me up so that I’ll say yes, Michael will have a fully grown vessel once more, and then you can have your apocalypse. I say ‘no deal’.”

“I was hoping you’d be reasonable. Now I see that that is not going to happen. But don’t think for a second that you will leave here without saying yes. I was trying to be nice before, but if force is the only thing you Winchesters respond to, then so be it.”


	13. The End of a Bad Day

Chapter Thirteen: The End of a Bad Day

Sam pushed the gas peddle further towards the floor and prayed that he wouldn’t pass any police cars. It was risky but he had to get to his destination as soon as possible if he was going to complete his task in time. Besides, Dean broke speed limits all the time and was rarely pulled over.

Sam kept running the timetable over and over in his head. They had started with thirty-six hours, maybe less. They’d spent six hours getting the antidote made and tracking the creature. That left thirty hours. It was a seventeen hour car trip to the town that Sam believed the edderkopp-skapning was lurking around in. That left thirteen hours. Three hours were allotted for bathroom breaks, food, and the inevitable traffic jam that always happened when he was in a hurry. That left ten hours. He’d need to sleep at some point or he’d be useless in a fight. That left four hours. And he still didn’t know the exact location of the spider-like monster. So he had four hours, maybe less, to find the edderkopp-skapning, stun it somehow, get the venom, complete the antidote, get in touch with Castiel who would hopefully have rescued Dean by then, meet up with them and administer the cure to his brother. Piece of cake. 

Sam was also aware of the fact that the demons would not know that Dean was no longer traveling with him and might attack again. And considering the fact that he’d killed a few already they might send more than two next time. Of course, upon seeing that Dean wasn’t there they probably wouldn’t spend too much effort on him, but he couldn’t afford any delays.

And then there was always the fact that Sam couldn’t keep his mind off of what Zachariah could be doing to Dean at that moment. The angel had tortured Dean at their last meeting to get him to agree to be the archangel Michael’s vessel and there was no reason to believe that the same thing wouldn’t happen this time. Castiel had pretty much said that it would definitely be the outcome. Sam knew that his brother was no stranger to pain and torture and had withstood a great deal. The guy had spent time in Hell after all. But this was a completely different set of circumstances than usual. Right now Dean was just a kid. As much as he was still Dean and was trying to put on a brave front, Sam was very aware of the fact that his emotions were severely compromised. The boy had had a hard time dealing with the nightmares of the torment he’d endured, and Sam couldn’t imagine how he’d cope with the things Zachariah would do to him. He had no doubt that Dean’s status as a four-year old wouldn’t stop the angel from harming him. And Sam worried that it wouldn’t take much to break his now little brother. Sam prayed that Castiel got there before Dean had to endure too much. 

Sam pulled out his cell phone and called the angel. 

“Hello.”

“Cas, it’s Sam.”

“Hello, Sam.”

“Have you found Dean?”

“Don’t you think I would have called you if I did?”

“I guess.”

“I am looking into it. I will find him, don’t worry.”

“Can’t you just pop in on them?”

“That would be difficult since I do not know where they are.” Castiel was beginning to sound a little annoyed.

“Well can’t you…”

“Sam. I can either try to find and rescue your brother or I can waste my time on the phone with you. It’s your choice.”

“You know I want you to find Dean.”

“Then goodbye, Sam.”

When Sam heard a click followed by a dial tone, he threw his phone down in frustration. Great. An angel had just hung up on him. Well that just about completed his crappy day.

He knew that he probably shouldn’t have bothered Cas, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Dean and hoping that he was rescued soon. The completed antidote would do them no good if Dean was dead or too broken to fix. 

Hours later, Sam pulled the car into a motel parking lot. He wanted to keep going. To get as close to his destination as possible, but his vision was getting blurry and his reaction time was suffering. He wouldn’t be a help to his brother if he got into an accident. And Dean would have his ass if he put another scratch on the Impala. He’d have to settle in and get some sleep. Hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

Dean curled himself up into a tiny ball and tried to stop the tears that were streaming down his face. It was completely useless though. He’d already cried and screamed and shrieked in pain and fear in front of Zachariah so he really had no dignity left to preserve. Well maybe some because he hadn’t begged or agreed to the angel’s terms. And neither of those things would ever happen no matter what that fat piece of crap did to him next. He wouldn’t break. Dean had lost that battle in Hell. He’d said yes then and had since vowed that he’d never be that weak again. It didn’t matter that he was now only four years old. It didn’t matter that his body was not able to take anywhere near as much punishment as it once could due to his severely reduced pain threshold that came with his small form. It didn’t matter that his emotions were out of control and he could practically feel his mental walls cracking under the weight of what was happening to him. None of that mattered. He had to keep saying no this time. 

“So, have you decided to change your answer yet?”

Dean picked his head up to shoot Zachariah what he hoped was a defiant look. “What do you think?”

“I think you should say yes.”

“Tell you what. Change the question to ‘does Dean think that Zack is a dick?’ and I’ll answer it with a yes.”

Dean felt the impact of the angel’s foot against his arms that were wrapped protectively around his body. He let out a cry of pain as he rolled over with the force of the blow. Had his arms not been in the way, he’d have a few seriously damaged ribs. Dean rolled back over to face his opponent, not liking the thought of not knowing what would happen next. But the next strike didn’t come. Instead, Zachariah smiled down at him as a cat would to a captured mouse.

“I’ll be right back. Just checking on something.” With that, the angel disappeared. 

Dean struggled to his feet, tears still leaking from his eyes. He swiped them away angrily, and looked around the warehouse. There was no way for him to escape. He already knew that the doors were locked and the windows were just too damned high for him to reach. If his body was that of a thirty-year old he’d be able to possibly stack some crates to reach an escape route, but as it was he was stuck. He knew that Sam would come for him, but wondered if there’d be anything left of him for his brother to find. Zachariah hadn’t been very gentle so far and Dean doubted that would change for the better. Of course, the angel couldn’t hurt him if his evil ass wasn’t there…

Dean limped over to the closest wall and looked around the floor. He picked up a nail and held it over one of the wounds he had on his arm from Zachariah’s persuasive techniques. It had stopped bleeding but Dean was about to fix that. Biting down on his lip, the boy reopened the cut and watched as blood welled up and then spilled down his tiny arm. He was glad that no one was around to hear the pathetic whimper that escaped him. With his other hand he scooped up his blood and began to draw the symbol that Cas had taught him. His hand shook terribly, but he figured that it was looking pretty accurate anyway. Dean chuckled slightly at the thought that he was a four-year old and was creating a very unusual finger-painting. Kids, don’t try this at home. 

When he was done, he stood back to admire his handiwork. Not bad. Now all he had to do was wait for Mr. Douche-Bag to get back and then he’d slap his palm on it and be rid of the guy for a while. And hopefully Sam would find him before Zachariah made it back. 

Having a plan, taking control of his destiny, was making Dean feel slightly better. He was still trembling, his heart beating a bit too fast, but the waterworks had finally stopped. The tiny hunter felt a glimmer of hope.

Just then, two hands grabbed him around his upper arms, lifted him up and threw him partway across the large room. The boy slammed into a large wooden crate with enough force that he heard it crack. At least he hoped it was the box that had cracked. Dean fell to the floor in a heap. He looked up to see Zachariah walking towards him and the tears started back up. He’d been so close. But he wouldn’t give up. Dean got to his feet and went to run back to the symbol he’d drawn, but a sharp pain shot through his leg and the limb just wouldn’t support him. He collapsed back onto the cement.

“Did you really think you’d be able to get rid of me that easily?”

“Was kinda hoping.” Dean managed to say in between the sobs of pain and despair that he was trying to hold back.

“Well, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”

As Zachariah bent down to grab Dean once more, the boy pulled the nail he’d picked up earlier from his pocket and slashed at the angel’s face. His efforts were rewarded with a howl of pain and rage. Dean crawled past the wounded angel and hurried towards the wall once again. He never made it. Zachariah lifted him into the air and spun him around so they were face to face.

“You little pieces of crap!” Zachariah spat out. “You are a small insignificant bug that I can squash however I please.” Dean braced himself for another blow, but then the angel seemed to calm. “But now I see that it’ll take a bit more to convince you to say yes. And why should I stress about coming up with new tortures when you’ve known so much already. So here’s the new deal, you can say yes now, or I can let you sleep for the rest of the night. A nightmare filled sleep where you can relive all the torment you knew in Hell and won’t wake until I decide.”

“I’ll take door number three.” Dean responded, trying to sound far braver than he felt. He’d already had two nights of those memories and did not want to do it again, especially if he could not wake from them. But there was still no way that he’d agree to Zachariah’s terms.

“So be it.” Zachariah smiled his evil looking smile again. “Have an unpleasant night, Dean. And just so you know, I checked on a surprise for you tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll love it.”

Dean had no chance to wonder what the hell the angel was speaking of because at that moment Zachariah touched his forehead and Dean’s mind descended to Hell once more.


	14. Hold On, Help's Coming

Chapter Fourteen: Hold On, Help’s Coming

The pain was all consuming, to the point where Dean couldn’t even tell what was being done to his body anymore. The demon was cutting him, that he was sure of since he’d caught a glimpse of a bloody knife a few minutes (or had it been hours?) ago. But all the pain had combined together and he couldn’t tell where he was cut or even if there was any skin left on his body. Before this had begun, the demon had burned him; at first slowly and then ending with covering him in accelerant and setting him alight. That had hurt like a bitch. Once he’d been restored to full health, he’d been crushed, boiled, flayed, eaten alive by rats, and been subjected to several other awful torments that had begun to blend together. It never stopped. And the agony wasn’t something that a person could just get use to and start to deal with. Especially not when Hell was so creative. He knew he could stop it all by saying yes, but something inside of himself kept reminding him that this time the stakes were too high. Dean wasn’t sure what ‘this time’ meant, as he was certain he’d never been tortured in Hell before, nor did he knew what the stakes were, but he trusted his instincts and kept up his defiance. Even as he felt a blade enter through his left eye and pierce his brain. Not for the first time, Dean wished that he could lapse into an unconscious state and just rest for a bit. Then the pain stopped. Dean felt no relief though, because he knew that that only meant he’d been fixed up so that he would be ready for the next round.

“My answer’s still no.” Dean growled.

“I’m glad to hear that.” The response was unexpected. First off because there was no way that the demons would be pleased with his lack of compliance and secondly, the voice was different that usual. It was filled with compassion and concern. 

Dean sat up and upon seeing who was standing next to the rack he had been lying on, he remembered everything.

“Cas! How did you find me?”

“I haven’t. I was able to locate your dream and speak to you here, but I still don’t know where Zachariah has taken you.”

“I wish I could tell you.” Dean shrugged as he jumped off the rack to stand next to his friend. He looked down at himself. Not only did he no longer have a mark on him, he was his proper age in his dream. “All I know is that we’re in some kind of warehouse.” 

“That’s not very helpful.”

“Dude, it’s not like Zack gave me a map with a big red X that says ‘you are here’.”

“Why would you expect him to do that?”

“I didn’t! I’m just saying… it’s an expression, Cas.” Dean shook his head. “But man, is it good to see you.”

“And you as well. How are you?”

“Truthfully, I’ve been better. You angel friend is an ass.”

“Why does everyone keep calling him my friend?”

“Another expression. Don’t worry ‘bout it.” Then something occurred to the hunter. “Wait, Zack can’t sense you in here, can he?”

“Not unless he is trying to, and he has no reason to suspect that I’m here. We should be safe for a while.”

“And if he does find out?”

“He will wake you and probably keep you from dreaming to avoid the two of us being in contact.”

“You don’t think he’ll come in and try to get rid of you?”

“No. It would be a risk for him to confront me.”

“Why? I mean, no offense, but you’re missing some of your mojo and he’s running at full capacity.”

“That is true. But in a direct confrontation there’s a chance that I’ll be able to track him back to his location in the real world.”

“Oh. Well, please tell me that you guys are close to finding me.”

The look on the angel’s face gave him his answer before Cas had even spoken. “I am looking.”

“Well, that’s just great. What about Sam?”

“He is tracking down the creature that poisoned you to get the venom needed for the antidote.”

“By himself?”

“Yes.”

“This is not gonna end well.”

“Sam said he was confident that he could do it.”

“Yeah well, I’ll let you in on a little secret. People lie.”

“That isn’t much of a secret. You informed me of this not too long ago.”

“Well, it’s still true.”

There was silence for a moment. Then Cas changed the subject.

“What can you tell me about the warehouse that you are being kept in?”

“It’s old. It’s filled with wooden crates and some of them seem to hold furniture. It’s only one story but it’s kinda tall. Windows near the top. Oh, and there are spider-webs and spiders everywhere, which normally wouldn’t freak me but considering all that happened recently, they give me the creeps.”

“Aren’t there spider-webs in all old buildings?”

“Yeah, but thinking back on it, there’s an overabundance here. Maybe dick-angel picked this particular warehouse on purpose, just to mess with me.”

“It sounds like something Zachariah would do.”

“None of what I told you will help you find me, will it?”

“Not likely. But I will find you, Dean.”

“I know. And I’ll hold out until then.”

“I know you will.”

They stood in companionable silence for a while before the angel spoke again.

“I should go continue my search.”

“No!” Dean cried out.

“Dean, if I do not go, I can not find you.”

“But if you leave, the nightmare will begin again, won’t it?”

“It’s likely.”

“Then please don’t leave. Just stay a little while longer.” Dean knew he probably sounded pathetic but he needed a break from the torment and he also didn’t want to be alone again.

Cas seemed to consider his options and then nodded. “Alright.”

“Thanks Cas.”

Hours later, Dean woke up with a start and came face to face with Zachariah. 

“Good morning.” He said with an evil looking grin. “I trust you slept well.”

The memories of his time in Hell were fresh in his mind, but so was the time he’d spent with his friend. All in all, Dean was doing far better than he’d expected. “Actually, it was rather refreshing. Hell is a lot more pleasant than your company and the demons look better too.”

Zachariah backhanded him across the face. The boy grunted in pain as he felt blood leak out of his nose. Now that he was awake, he felt all the aches and pains that the angel had inflicted on his tiny body the day before. Dean’s head was pounding and he felt something sticky on the left side of his face leading him to believe that being thrown into the wooden crate had left him with a pretty bad cut on his forehead. His previously dislocated shoulder was throbbing but thankfully still in its socket. The pain radiating from his left leg meant that it was probably fractured, but hopefully not broken. The cuts on his body still stung but were nothing too bad. Had he been up to his typical level of crap-dealing, this would seem like nothing. But to a four year old body it was a little overwhelming. But he had to stay strong and hold on. Help was coming.

Zachariah stepped back from Dean and sneered down at him. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you.”

“I know I am.”

“Well, I’m a bit smarter.”

Dean looked up at him with wide eyes. “Wow, really? Because I figured that an actual four-year old was probably more intelligent than you.”

“You think your insults mean anything to me?”

“Well, since you seem to be getting pissed the longer I talk, I’d have to go with ‘yeah’.”

“Laugh now. But in just a little while, when our guest arrives, you won’t be doing much more than screaming in agony.”

“Guest? What you finally realized that you’ll never be able to break me on your own? You had to call in backup?”

“It’s not that at all. The two of you have some unfinished business.”

“Unfinished business? What are you talking about? Who’s coming?” Dean was getting a little concerned about the smug look on Zachariah’s face.

“I believe you call him Eddy.”

Dean felt fear wash over him. He knew what the edderkopp-skapning did to children “Dude, won’t Michael be kinda ticked off that you fed his vessel to a giant spider?”

“After it is done consuming you, I will bring you back. And if your answer is still no, well let’s just say that the edderkopp-skapning will have a never ending buffet consisting of Dean Winchester.”

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

Sam backed the Impala out of the motel parking lot and took a bite of the Pop-Tart he’d purchased from the vending machine. Just as he suspected, it was stale. But eating it would save him a stop for breakfast and let him complete his mission that much sooner. He’d filled a thermos with equally stale coffee from the machine in the motel room, so he was all set. Hopefully, he’d have lunch at a nice diner somewhere with his older brother after everything was over with. And Dean would be paying.

Only a few minutes later, Sam’s cell phone began to ring.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Sam.”

“Cas. Did you find him?”

“Not exactly. I spoke with him in his dream, but he couldn’t give me his location.”

Sam felt disappointed that his brother was still missing. But at least the angel said that he’d had contact with him which meant that Dean was still alive. “You spoke with him? How is he?”

“Not well. We need to hurry.”

“What’s wrong with Dean? What happened?” Sam was alarmed by the angel’s response.

“Zachariah is torturing him and subjecting him to his memories of Hell.”

“I’m going to kill the bastard!”

“That is probably advisable. I stayed with Dean in his dreams until he awoke to keep the memories at bay. It helped him but cost me some time that I could have been searching.”

“So we still have no clue as to where they are?”

“All your brother could tell me was that he was being kept in an old, one story furniture warehouse.”

“No other details?” Sam asked. His hopes of finding Dean were diminishing.

“No. Except that he was unnerved by the copious amount of spiders in the building.”

“That’s not helpful. Spiders are everywhere.”

“That’s what I told him but he seemed to feel that there were a larger number of them than normal.”

With that, something clicked into place in Sam’s mind. “How many more? Like thousands more than normal?”

“I didn’t see for myself, but it was enough to warrant Dean commenting on them. Why? Does this mean something to you?”

“Yeah Cas, I think it does. I think it means that we’re both headed for the same place.”


	15. The Spider Approaches

Chapter Fifteen: The Spider Approaches 

Sam tried to contain his excitement as he told Cas that they were headed for the same place, but the knowledge that they’d soon find his brother was invigorating. And not only would they find Dean, Sam would now be able to help rescue the boy. The hunter had accepted that saving Dean was the angel’s job, while he would get the antidote completed but he was never completely happy with that arrangement. Maybe a little of Dean’s big brother attitude had rubbed off on him, but Sam felt that he himself should be the one to come to Dean’s aid. Besides, two rescuers were better than one and it sounded like his brother could use all the help he could get.

“What do you mean?” Cas asked.

“My research indicated that the edderkopp-skapning is constantly laying eggs once they nest. When they hatch, the babies resemble regular spiders but there are far more than you would usually find in one area. And the town that I’m heading to, where I believe the edderkopp-skapning has nested, doesn’t have any large caves in the area but there are several old, abandoned warehouses that could seem appealing to a large spider-like creature searching for a home.”

“So, you believe that the warehouse Dean is in is the edderkopp-skapning’s nest and the spiders he saw are the babies?”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m on interstate 80. I just passed a sign welcoming me to Rock Springs, Wyoming. I still have a couple of hours to go.”

“Where exactly are we going?”

Sam jumped and jerked his head to the right, because the voice had come from the passenger seat instead of the phone. The Impala almost went off the road, but Sam managed to get the car back under control. 

“Dammit, Cas! Are you trying to make me crash?”

“No. I just didn’t anticipate your overreaction.”

“Overreaction? You just appeared next to me without warning. I’d say my reaction was called for.”

Castiel didn’t respond. Sam wondered sometimes how his brother got along so well with the angel, because Castiel’s lack of interpersonal skills was really getting on his nerves. Of course no one had ever accused Dean of having great manners either, so maybe that’s why they made such good friends. 

After a moment Castiel once more asked what their final destination was.

“A small town in Utah, not too far passed the state line. Why?”

“I’m going to go there now and see if I can help Dean.”

“No way, man. If you go in alone Zachariah will take you out within seconds. We’re going to be up against both the angel and the spider-creature. I think it’s best if we stay together.” Sam wanted Dean rescued as soon as possible, but he doubted that either Castiel or himself could take out both threats single-handedly. 

“But I can…”

“No. Dean’s chances of survival greatly improve if we stick together.”

The was a pause and then Castiel sighed. “You’re right.” Another pause. “You’re not too bad at being an older brother.”

Sam forced a smile in return, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe those words. He’d been a big brother for only a couple of days and look what had happened to his ‘little’ brother. Sam just hoped he’d be able to rescue Dean before it was too late to improve his crappy track record.

He pressed down on the gas pedal and cursed the fact that it was going to be a while before he’d reach the town. And then he’d still have to find the correct warehouse.

“I can bring you with me.” Castiel offered.

“What?”

“Instead of driving, I can transport both of us to the location you believe Dean to be at. It will be much quicker than driving.”

“Cas, you’re a genius. Just let me find a safe place to leave Dean’s car. And we’ll need to get any weapons we need from the trunk before we go.”

Sam sped up even more. After a few minutes, he saw an old, long ago abandoned gas station. Complete with a repair garage advertising cheap oil changes. He pulled up to the entrance and got out to open the garage door. It was not an easy task, but he finally pried it up and it rolled open with a squeak of protest. Sam returned to the driver’s seat and pulled the Impala in. Once the car was parked, Sam got out and walked to the back of the car. Castiel was already standing there.

“You could’ve helped me open the door.” Sam complained.

“You did fine on your own.”

Sam shook his head as he popped the trunk. He retrieved all the weapons he thought might be useful, but no more than they could carry. After they exited the garage, Sam closed the door and turned to face Castiel.

“Let’s go save Dean.” 

…  
…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…  
…

Dean sat on the cold cement floor of the old furniture warehouse waiting to be eaten by a huge cow-sized spider creature. His arms were pulled behind his back, a coarse rope tying them together around his skinny wrists. Zachariah hadn’t bothered to tie his legs together since his fractured one already prevented him from escape.

“Dude, don’t you think that it’s a little pathetic that you have to tie up a four year old. I mean seriously, what do you think I’m gonna be able to do?”

“I think that I’m not going to take any chances. And if you don’t shut up, I’m going to gag you.”

“Now you’re just getting kinky. I should warn you that I’m not into that kind of stuff with dudes and you even suggesting it right now makes you one real sick pedophile. Do the other angels know you’re such a perv?” 

Zachariah backhanded him across his face yet again. Dean felt the tears leaking from his eyes once more and couldn’t even wipe them away.

“Look at the big, tough hunter sitting there crying like a baby.” Zachariah taunted.

“Yeah well, you’d cry too if you had to look at your ugly face all day.”

“And how pretty do you think you’re going to look as the edderkopp-skapning dissolves your skin, rips the flesh from your bones, and chews you up?”

“Yeah well, Eddy could do all that and poop me back out and I’d still look better than you.”

Dean kept his words tough, but he was scared. Really scared. The prospect of being eaten by the spider thing was terrifying, and he knew that some creatures took a long time to consume their food. He wasn’t sure that his tiny little body could deal with that kind of agony. And if his mind finally snapped, where would that leave him? Also Dean had considered the fact that if he did die and Zachariah brought him back in a brand new four year old body, that maybe the antidote would no longer work for him. After all, it would no longer be a body affected by a toxin but a body created to be little. He could end up stuck as a four year old, having to grow up all over again. Which would make him a permanent burden on his brother and effectively take him out of the fight to save this screwed up world. His dark thoughts made even more tears run down his cheeks. So much for his tough act.

Zachariah turned from him and walked across the large room. Dean felt his eyes drawn to the symbol he’d painted on the wall. If only he’d been able to use it. But it was too late for that now. And with his hands tied behind his back he wouldn’t get another chance. 

Turning his attention back to the douche-bag disguised as an angel, Dean watched as Zachariah reached a large garage door and bent down to unlatch it. With a terrible screeching sound, the metal door opened, letting light pour into the warehouse. 

“This door must have been left open for quite a while, allowing your spider friend access. I closed it for some privacy when we arrived, but I think that it’s time to invite it back into its home, don’t you?”

Dean shrugged. “I’m sure it could find a new home.”

“But where would be the fun be in that.”

“You know, Eddy probably won’t even come in here with your smelly ass stinking up the place.” Dean commented. He was hoping to make Zachariah leave. If the evil jerk wasn’t looming over him, maybe he could escape somehow.

“Trust me, it won’t even know I’m here.”

“Lucky bastard.” The little hunter mumbled just loud enough to make sure he was heard.

Then Dean heard something skittering up the outside wall of the warehouse. The spiders all over the walls and ceiling reacted with what could only be considered excitement. The loud skittering could now be heard on the roof as the edderkopp-skapning made its way towards the open door. The spiders moved to greet it. And that’s when Dean figured out what they actually were.

“Oh, God. Those are its babies.” Fear and revulsion rose up in the small child and he vowed to squish any arachnid he ever saw for the rest of his life. Which was beginning to look like it would be a very short one. 

Zachariah just grinned and stepped back to stand by a pile of crates. 

With a thud, the gigantic spider-like beast dropped down in front of the open garage door. It looked far larger than last time Dean had laid eyes on it. Eddy hadn’t grown, of course. But now Dean was so much smaller and his fear made the creature seem so much bigger. 

Dean tried desperately to free his hands as he scooted himself farther away from the edderkopp-skapning that was slowly stalking towards him.


	16. The Rescue

Chapter Sixteen: The Rescue 

Sam felt disoriented as he and Castiel appeared in the middle of a lot filled with old warehouses. Shaking off the feeling, he scanned the buildings trying to see if one of them matched Dean’s description. Most did. He wondered if any of them were still in use. By the condition of both the warehouses and the lot, he doubted it. 

“Cas, I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Going through each one would take much too long and may alert Zachariah to our presence.” 

“We need some kind of clue to point us in the right direction.”

Just then, Sam heard the loud screeching noise of metal rubbing against metal. It was similar to the sound the garage door at the gas station had made when it was opened. Sam turned around trying to pinpoint where it had come from. He was just about to ask Castiel when he caught a glimpse of the edderkopp-skapning on the roof of one of the warehouses. 

“I think we found a clue.” The angel commented. 

“You think that’s where Dean is?”

“Zachariah taking him to this particular place is not a coincidence. He must plan on feeding Dean to the creature if he continues to refuse to be Michael’s vessel.”

“Oh, hell no.” Sam declared. “There’s no way that thing’s getting anywhere near my brother.” The hunter raised his flame-thrower to a ready position.

“If you kill it, we can’t complete the antidote.” Castiel reminded him.

“I’m not going to kill it. Just make damned sure it can’t kill Dean.” He was already running towards the warehouse that the creature had disappeared into, with the angel right behind him. “Once we’re inside, I need you to close the door so that it can’t escape, okay?”

“Okay.”

Sam reached the open garage door just in time to hear a childish voice yell at the huge spider that was blocking his view of anything else in the room.

“Dude, take one more step towards me and I swear to God that I’ll find the biggest tub of Raid ever and give you a freakin’ bath in it!”

Sam would’ve smiled at his brother’s comment if he hadn’t heard the terror and pain in the boy’s voice. The edderkopp-skapning lunged forwards and Dean let out a sharp scream. Sam didn’t waste another second.

“Get away from my brother!” The hunter shouted as he turned on the flame-thrower. Flames shot out and licked at the monster. It was the edderkopp-skapning’s turn to scream. An ear-piercing shriek filled the large warehouse, echoing off the metal walls and almost blocking out the sound of the garage door being pulled shut. Sam kept the flames on the edderkopp-skapning even as he began to smell the disgusting scent of meat cooking. But then the creature jumped away and clung to the ceiling. It quickly retreated to the back of the warehouse, making tiny pathetic noises as it went. 

Sam turned his attention to the small child curled up on the cement ground. Dean had obviously been beaten, his tiny body covered in bruises. There was dried blood caked on his arm where he’d been cut and another cut on his forehead. The boy’s left leg was sticking out rather than tucked protectively into his body like the other leg and his arms were, so Sam assumed that the bone was injured, possibly broken. There was also blood leaking from a large puncture wound right under his knee where it looked like the edderkopp-skapning had bitten him. The boy was sobbing pitifully. Looking at all the damage inflicted on his ‘little’ brother, Sam felt himself fill with an uncontrollable rage. He spun around and saw Zachariah step forwards. 

Without a single thought as to what the jerk that called himself an angel could do to him, Sam let out a wordless cry and ran at the piece of crap that had done all that to Dean. He saw a look of shock on Zachariah’s face right before his own fist smashed the angel’s nose. Then he saw nothing but red as his anger drove him to punch Zachariah over and over. Sam had the pudgy angel on the ground and was sitting on top of him as he continued to beat the hell out of the bastard. In the back of his mind he knew that if Zachariah got the upper-hand, Sam’s life could be over with but a thought but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“You filthy piece of crap! He’s just a kid, you spineless ass, and look what you did. How the hell can you even call yourself an angel? You think that this is God’s plan? Torturing a four-year old? You make me sick.”

“Sam!” Castiel’s voice broke through the red haze of rage that had taken up residence in Sam’s mind. He turned his head and saw that the angel was gesturing to one of the walls. Sam glanced at the wall and saw the Enochian sigil that Dean had shown him how to draw to dispel angels. His brother must’ve somehow been able to paint it on the wall but had not been able to use it. But Sam could.

“Keep him busy and get out of here when I say to.” Sam ordered as he jumped to his feet. He knew Castiel couldn’t win in a fight against the more powerful angel, but he just needed a few seconds to reach the symbol. He had almost reached it when an invisible force threw him against a crate. 

Sam got to his feet only to be pressed back into the wooden box with crushing strength by an unseen force. The air was pressed out of his lungs and the hunter felt as if all his bones would break at any moment. Sam was certain that he was about to pass out, but then Castiel intervened.

“Hey!” The angel yelled.

Zachariah turned just as Castiel swung the large wooden board he’d picked up from the ground. It connected with the evil angel’s head, making him lose his invisible grip on Sam.

The hunter didn’t wait to see what would happen next in the fight between the two angels. He had an important task to carry out. Sam rushed over to the wall. The symbol was low on the wall due to Dean’s diminished height so Sam had to kneel down. When he’d seen Dean use the sigil before, his brother’s palm had still been cut and bleeding and he wasn’t sure if that was necessary for it to work, but Sam wasn’t going to take any chances on getting this wrong. He pulled a knife from his pocket, sliced his left hand and held his open palm in front of the symbol.

“Cas, now!” He yelled, but didn’t turn to make sure that the angel had safely gotten away before slamming his hand onto the sigil. A brilliant flash of light filled the room. Sam turned to see that Dean and himself were the only ones left in the room besides the injured edderkopp-skapning that was still hiding far away from them. The hunter hoped Castiel that had left on his own since that would mean he’d be able to return much sooner.

Sam ran over to his brother and dropped down to crouch in front of him. The boy was still crying uncontrollably, seemingly oblivious to what had transpired around him in the last couple of minutes. 

“Dean? Hey Dean, it’s Sam. It’s Sammy. You’re safe now.”

The little boy looked up and Sam put on his most comforting smile even though the bruises and tears on the child’s face filled him with yet more anger at the creep who’d hurt his brother. 

“Sammy?”

“Yeah Dean, it’s me.”

Before he could get another word out, Sam was shocked to find himself thrown backwards onto his butt as Dean leapt into his arms. The boy clung to Sam’s shirt and buried his face under the hunter’s chin. Sam wrapped Dean in his arms and held him tightly, feeling his own tears begin to fall.

“It was going to eat me.” Dean choked out in between his sobs. 

“It won’t get you, Dean. I won’t let it.” Sam’s heart was breaking more and more by the moment. He’d never seen his brother like this before, but he understood that the four-year old part of Dean had taken all he could and now the boy just couldn’t hold himself together any longer. 

“But Zack…”

“He’s gone, Dean. I got rid of him.”

“He hurt me.” That sentence came out barely above a whisper.

“I know, Dean. I know.” Sam rubbed slow, soothing circles on the small child’s back. After a few minutes, Dean’s crying was reduced to the occasional hiccup and the boy seemed to finally relax. When he once again turned his face up towards Sam, the older hunter was pleased to see no fresh tears streaming from his eyes.

“Thanks.” Dean mumbled.

Sam wasn’t sure if he was being thanked for saving his brother of comforting him. “No problem.”

“But if you ever tell anybody about this, I’ll shoot you. ‘Kay?”

“Okay.” Sam smiled. “It’ll be our secret, I promise. Besides, it’s not like anyone would ever believe it anyways.”

“Damn straight they wouldn’t.” Dean proclaimed. “So what happened?” 

“Cas and I beat the crap out of Zachariah and used your sigil to banish him.”

A grin lit up Dean’s features. “Awesome.”

“Good job drawing that, by the way.” Sam praised. “I don’t know what we would’ve done without it.”

“So what you’re saying is that I helped save your ass?”

“Only after I saved yours.”

“Uh, so where’s Eddy?” Fear crept back into the boy’s expression.

“The edderkopp-skapning is still crouched in the back of the warehouse, trying to hide from Sam.”

Sam looked up to see Castiel standing next to them.

“I take it you got out in time.” Sam commented.

“Yes. How are you Dean?”

“I’ve been better.” The boy admitted. “I’m so ready for all of this to be over with.”

“I think we all are.” Sam agreed. 

Dean tried to get up out of Sam’s lap, but gasped in pain when his left leg moved.

“Don’t try to stand, Dean.” Sam advised. “Your leg’s in bad shape.”

The child nodded, obviously trying to hold back more tears. Castiel bent down and scooped Dean up into his arms. Once the boy was off of him, Sam got to his feet. He looked towards the other end of the large room and could see a dark shadow being cast by the spider creature. It was hiding behind a particularly large crate. 

Sam turned to Castiel who was still holding Dean. “Keep him safe, Cas. I’m going to go finish this.”


	17. The Final Ingredient

Chapter Seventeen: The Final Ingredient 

Dean knew that he should order Cas to put him down, and even if he couldn’t stand then he could sit on one of the crates, but he felt safe in the angel’s arms and didn’t want to lose that feeling just yet. And Cas had offered his services as a guardian angel to Dean the night before last. Besides, after recent events it wasn’t like he had any dignity left to preserve. So Dean wrapped his tiny arms around his friend’s neck and turned his head to watch as Sam began to slowly and quietly make his way across the warehouse.

“We should help him.” Dean commented.

“How do you propose we do that?”

“I don’t know. I’m just sayin’.”

“Without a plan, we would only be in the way.”

“Well, what’s Sam’s plan.”

“I believe he intends to stun it with that large board he just picked up.”

“That is never gonna work!”

“Sam only needs to distract the creature long enough to inject it with a sedative that he brought with him. Then he can safely extract the venom.”

“We can’t let him do it alone, Cas.” Dean didn’t want his brother to die trying to obtain the final ingredient for the cure that was needed to fix him. Sam was not going to get hurt on Dean’s account. But he needed to convince Cas to help because there was just no way he could help his brother on his own. 

“Dean, we have no means of helping him. You are small and injured and I don’t have a weapon.”

“Well, maybe we can just get a little closer. You know, just in case.”

The angel seemed to consider that option for a moment. “Alright.”

“Great.”

Cas began to follow Sam towards the back of the warehouse. Dean clung on tightly, burying his head in the crook of the angel’s neck so as not to see the edderkopp-skapning. He wanted to help his brother but, as they moved closer, he felt the panic begin to return. That son of a bitch had tried to eat him. Would’ve succeeded too if Sam hadn’t shown up at just the right moment. Dean wondered briefly how they’d found him, but decided that for the moment it didn’t matter. The important thing was that he’d been rescued. It pissed him off a little that he’d needed rescuing in the first place but the fact that it had been his sigil that had helped win the fight made the situation slightly better. Now if only Sam would forget about that whole chick-flick crying moment of his…

Sam’s cry of pain snapped him out of his thoughts and had him raising his head to look around. His brother was lying on the ground with one of Eddy’s legs pinning him there. The wooden board that had been his intended weapon lay on the ground just out of the hunter’s reach. 

“Cas, put me down and help Sam! Fry the bastard right now if you gotta but don’t let it kill Sam.”

“Dean, if I burn it, we cannot retrieve the venom we need to…”

“I know, Cas. But Sam’s more important. Please.” Dean did not want to be stuck as a child, but he wouldn’t let anything happen to his brother.

The angel nodded and placed Dean on a wooden crate before running towards the battle. If he were at full power the fight would be over in moments but, the way things were right now, it was anyone’s guess as to how the struggle would go. And it wasn’t like Cas had much experience as a hunter. But Dean did. And his brother and his friend needed him.

Swallowing his pain and fear, Dean pushed off the crate and landed hard on the concrete floor. He bit back the cry that almost escaped his lips and did his best to hold in his tears. Then, slowly and painfully, he began to crawl to join the others. As he got close, Dean saw Cas get flung back against a wooden crate, which shattered with the impact. A stream of webbing followed, trapping the angel in the pile of broken boards and furniture. Dean peered around a crate and saw that Sam was once again on his feet. The hunter held a wooden board in both hands as one would hold a baseball bat and swung it at Eddy’s face. The makeshift weapon caught the creature right across its eyes and it let out a howl. Dean noticed that some of its eyes were destroyed and just beginning to heal and assumed that his brother had cause that damage at their first encounter with the edderkopp-skapning. The boy watched as Sam pulled out a large needle filled with an amber colored liquid. Maybe his help wasn’t going to be needed after all. That thought made him both relieved and depressed. But it didn’t last long because the spider creature leapt up onto the ceiling and then dropped back down and onto Sam. Dean wondered if that was how his brother had gotten pinned onto the ground the first time. Either way, this time Sam wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere as the beast had two of its legs on Sam’s thighs and two trapping his arms. Dean saw the needle had rolled across the floor and was near the ruined crate that Cas had crashed into.

As quietly as he could, the little hunter crawled over and reached out his hand. He snatched the syringe from the concrete and ducked behind a wooden box that was still intact. Dean’s heart was beating wildly and his breathing was coming out in gasps as panic seized him. He knew that he had to do this and that he’d been in far worse situations before, but the four year old portion of his mind was begging him to run away and go curl up in a corner somewhere to cry until it was all over. But if he did that, it would not be ‘all over’ in a good way. 

Dean’s leg was in agony as he moved over and took up position behind a pile of crates right near the edderkopp-skapning. He looked back and saw a blood trail that had been left behind from the puncture wound created by Eddy’s tooth sinking into his leg. Just that memory was almost enough to paralyze him with fear, but he fought against it. He had to rescue his brother. Sam had been taking care of him and keeping him safe since he’d been de-aged a few days ago and now it was time to return the favor. Time for this four-year old to act like the big brother he was supposed to be. 

The boy slipped out from behind his hiding spot and lunged, sliding across the floor and right under Eddy. Dean bumped into Sam’s body, but didn’t pay his brother any attention, concentrating instead on the task at hand. With all the force he could muster, the child stabbed the needle up and into the spider creature’s stomach. When the syringe was buried in its flesh, Dean pushed on the plunger, releasing the sedative into the edderkopp-skapning. He hoped that it was fast acting.

Job completed, the small hunter rolled out from under the creature and tried to crawl back to safety. But Eddy had other plans. It turned, taking all but one of its legs off of Sam, and faced Dean. It opened its mouth to bite at the child but suddenly two arms grabbed Dean under his armpits and pulled him out of the way. Dean found himself being held once again by Cas as the edderkopp-skapning chomped down on thin air. The angel was still covered in spider-webs but at that moment Dean couldn’t care less. The boy held on tight as his friend backed away from the monster that had tried to eat him. The creature looked as though it was getting ready to pounce on them but then it suddenly collapsed onto the concrete floor. And onto Sam.

“Ahhh!” Sam cried out.

“Sammy, you okay?”

“Uh… I think it cracked my ribs.” The older hunter moaned.

“Stop your bitching, it could’ve been way worse.” Dean teased with a wide grin on his face.

“Gee, thanks for the sympathy.”

“Anytime.”

“Now, can you guys get this thing off of me?”

Cas placed Dean back onto a crate and went to help push the edderkopp-skapning off of the trapped hunter. Once freed, Sam got to his feet and hurried over to Dean. When he reached his ‘little’ brother, he began checking him over. 

“Are you okay, Dean? It didn’t hurt you again, did it?”

“I’m fine Sam, really. Cas pulled me out of the way in time.”

It was Sam’s turn to pick Dean up and hold him tightly. If Dean wasn’t so happy that this ordeal was almost over and that they were all still alive, he would’ve insisted that his brother put him down. After a moment, Sam sat the boy back onto the crate. 

“I’m going to go get the venom to finish the antidote. We don’t have much time left.”

Dean nodded and watched as Sam knelt down next to the edderkopp-skapning’s head. The hunter pried its mouth open with one hand and inserted an empty syringe with the other. Dean couldn’t see the actual extraction process but in a matter of moments Sam pulled his hand back out and stood. He then held the needle up in a gesture of triumph.

“Got it.”

“Awesome!” Dean exclaimed.

Sam walked back over to them and handed it to Cas. “Hold onto this while I torch the creature.”

“Uh, this whole place is gonna go up in flames if you do that.” Dean protested.

“Well, as soon as I light it up, Cas can get us out of here.”

The angel nodded his agreement.

Dean’s gaze followed Sam as the older brother walked back over to Eddy and began to pour accelerant all over the creature. When its body was good and soaked, Sam flicked his lighter and tossed it onto the giant spider. The sedative must’ve been very strong because the edderkopp-skapning didn’t even react as it burst into flames. Sam hurried back over to Dean and Cas. They quickly gathered up their supplies and then the angel picked up Dean and placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder.

In the time it took Dean to blink, they were standing outside an abandoned looking repair garage. 

“Where are we?” Dean asked.

“This is where we left your car to make sure it’d be safe.” Sam replied.

“Oh. Well, can we get to fixing me up now?”

Dean saw Sam check his watch and make a face. Well, that didn’t look good.

“Is it too late?” Dean asked in a small voice, just barely above a whisper.

“It’s going to be close.” Sam answered. He walked over and opened the garage door. The screeching noise was eerily reminiscent of the warehouse door and made Dean cringe. 

They walked inside and Sam put his bag down on the trunk of the Impala and unzipped it. He pulled out a metal thermos and took off the top. Next the hunter held out his hand and Cas placed the syringe onto his palm. Sam squirted the liquid into the thermos, careful not to get any on himself. Then he closed it up and shook it.

“Let’s do this.” Dean proclaimed.

“Not yet.” Sam responded.

“Why not?”

“You need to take your clothes off first.”

“What? Why?” Dean so did not want to stand in front of his brother and his friend completely naked.

“Your clothes aren’t going to grow with you, Dean.”

“Dude, I’m not stripping in front of you guys.”

“Then we’ll turn around.”

“But you’ll still have to face me again to give me the antidote. What if you get some of my other clothes out and I’ll change into them.”

“First off, we may not have the extra time that would take and secondly, your old clothes are much too big for you and will fall off your body leaving you naked anyways.”

Dean felt his face heat up with embarrassment. “I don’t want to do it.” He mumbled.

“I know, Dean.” Sam’s voice was filled with sympathy.

“Here.” Cas shrugged off his trench coat and held it out to the boy. “You can put this on and tie it loose enough so that it will still fit you when you grow. It’s not much, but it will cover you.”

“Thanks Cas.” Dean flashed him a grateful smile.

Cas placed Dean on the ground and both men turned away from the boy. Dean pulled off his ripped up, bloody Batman t-shirt and dropped it down next to himself. Then he yanked off his Spider-man sneakers and tossed them away, watching as they lit up when the hit the floor. Next came the socks. He struggled a little with the pants but couldn’t get them off without hurting himself more.

“Sam… uh, I need some help.”

“Sure.” To his credit, Sam didn’t tease him or make it any more awkward than the situation already was as he pulled the jeans from the little boy’s legs.

“I got the rest.” Dean insisted. With a nod, Sam stood back up and turned around. 

Dean finally got the underwear off and then slipped the much too big trench coat over his thin shoulders. He managed to roll up the sleeves and then used the Impala to pull himself to his feet. The belt for the coat was down past his knees but he tied it anyway, knowing it would fit better soon. Hopefully. Dean held himself up with one hand while holding the coat closed with the other.

“Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do this.”


	18. Dean's Screwed Up Definition of Normal

Chapter Eighteen: Dean’s Screwed Up Definition of Normal

Dean held his breath as Sam turned back around to face him. The much taller brother held the metal thermos in his hand. The boy stared at the object.

“So what? Do I gotta drink that crap?”

“No. I give it to you the same way you got poisoned.”

“Okay then. Let’s rock and roll.”

Sam nodded. “And Dean, if this doesn’t work, I promise I’ll find another way to fix this.”

“I know. But this will work. Now let’s stop the whole girly moment and get the show on the road. I want to be back to my usual handsome self.”

“You were handsome?” Sam teased.

“Shut up.”

Sam unscrewed the cap from the thermos. Dean felt himself begin to shake from a combination of stress, fear, and anticipation. Sam hesitated for a moment and Dean was about to snap at him to get on with it when the liquid hit him right in the face. 

Dean sputtered, spitting the foul liquid onto the oil stained garage floor. At first, nothing happened. But then he felt a burning sensation in his eyes. He rubbed at them, letting go of the Impala and ended up on the ground when his injured leg refused to support him. He let out a cry of pain that grew into a wail of pure agony as the burning spread throughout his body. Dean felt his bones shifting, ligaments popping, muscles pulling and skin stretching. In the back of his mind he acknowledged that this was a good thing and meant that the antidote was doing its job but that didn’t stop the rest of his brain from being filled with white hot pain. It was a relief when he lost consciousness. 

At first there was only darkness. But then a voice interrupted the complete nothingness that Dean Winchester had been drifting in. 

“I don’t know. He was out for quite a while last time. Maybe we should try to move him so he’ll be more comfortable when he wakes up.”

Sam. That was definitely Sam’s voice.

“I can transport you both to a motel but I cannot bring your car.”

And that was Cas.

“Dean would kill me if I left his car behind again. Especially if something happens to it.”

“I can take him and you can drive.”

“No way. I’m not letting him out of my sight for a long time after all of this.”

“Aww, I didn’t know you cared so much.” Dean mumbled as he opened his eyes.

Sam’s worried expression greeted him. His brother’s face hovered closely over Dean.

“Dean! You’re awake.”

“Yeah Captain Obvious, I’m awake. And you’re not respecting the whole personal space rule.” Dean commented as he struggled into a sitting position.

“Screw personal space.” Sam replied as he threw his arms around Dean and hugged him tightly. And that’s when Dean realized that he was definitely back to his correct age because his little brother, while still taller than him, no longer dwarfed him in size.

“I’m back to normal.” Dean exclaimed, looking down at himself as Sam released him.

“Well, your screwed up definition of normal anyways.” Sam responded.

Dean tried to get up, only to groan in pain when his leg protested. Shifting the trench coat so that he could look at the offending limb, the hunter saw the deep puncture mark that Eddy’s tooth had made right below his knee and the deep bruising that covered his skin. Come to think of it, his whole body felt like one big bruise.

“Oh man! I grow twenty-six years older and my body still hasn’t healed?”

“That much time has not actually passed.” Cas offered.

“Dude, this sucks.”

“Hey, don’t expect Cas or me to carry you around anymore either.” Sam advised with a smirk. 

“Trust me, I wouldn’t ask.” Dean shot back. Then he grabbed onto the back of the Impala and pulled himself to his feet. He tightened the belt on the trench coat to make sure it stayed closed. Leaning against his car, the now thirty-year old man smiled at his friends. “But thanks for everything.”

For a moment it looked as though Sam would tease him, but then his once again little brother just returned the smile. “Anytime.”

Cas spoke at the same time. “You’re welcome Dean.”

Embarrassed by the emotions running through him, Dean changed the subject quickly. “Hey, I’m starving. You guys feel like grabbing a burger.”

“I don’t need anything.” Cas informed him. “If you will be alright Dean, I must be on my way.”

“Sure, Cas. Go have fun.”

Cas cocked his head to the side. “I am continuing my mission, not searching for entertainment.”

Dean laughed. “Whatever, dude. Look, thanks again. And could you pop in on Bobby and let him know that everything worked out okay and that we’ll give him a call in a bit?”

“That will not be a problem.” And with that, Cas was gone. 

Dean turned to his brother. “So Sammy, what about you? You up for some greasy diner food?”

“Sounds good.” Sam replied. “But first, let’s get you fixed up a bit. You look like crap.” Dean opened his mouth to respond but Sam raised a hand to cut him off. “Yeah, I know. You still look better than I do.”

“So you’re finally admitting it then.” Dean grinned.

“You’re such a jerk.”

“Bitch.”

“Well, at least your profanities aren’t coming from a four-year old’s mouth anymore. That was just wrong, man.”

“You’re just jealous because I had a cooler vocabulary than you did at that age.” Dean went to walk to the front of the car, but his left leg gave out and he ended up face down on the cement. “Son of a bitch!”

“Dean! You okay?” 

“Peachy.”

Sam rushed over and helped him to his feet. Dean slung an arm over Sam’s shoulders and Sam wrapped his arm around Dean’s waist. 

“You sure you can’t pick me up?” Dean joked.

“Sorry but those days are over.”

“And not a moment too soon.”

Sam began to lead him over to the front passenger door.

“Wrong side, Sammy. I’m driving.”

“No you’re not, Dean.”

“I can reach the pedals again, so yeah, I am.”

“Dean, your leg is a mess.”

“So what? I use my other leg.”

“Keep arguing and I’ll put you back in your booster seat.” Sam threatened.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me. Look, you can drive as soon as we get you somewhere where I can patch up that leg and get you some painkillers, okay?”

“Fine.” Dean reluctantly agreed.

Sam leaned him against the back door as he went to open the front one. Dean turned his head and almost jumped when he saw a spider crawling across the roof of the Impala. Dean stared at it for a moment and then tore his gaze away to scan the rest of the garage. There didn’t appear to be any more of the disgusting eight-legged pests. Sam touched his arm.

“Dean? What’s up?”

“Spider.” Dean resumed staring at the tiny terror.

“It’s just a regular spider, Dean. Nothing to worry about. Leave it alone and get in the car before you fall over again”

“Yeah.” Dean replied. He was going to follow Sam’s suggestion, but just then the spider turned and began to crawl right at him. Without hesitation, Dean brought his fist down on the arachnid, grinning at the feel of its tiny body crunching under his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. And special thanks to everyone who left Kudos or commented.  
> My next story, 'Death Wish' will begin to be posted tomorrow.


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